Long Branch man charged with murder of city woman

FREEHOLD– Investigators have charged a Long Branch man with the murder of a city woman found dead in a second floor bedroom of his Rockwell Avenue residence, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Christopher “Chato” Aparicio-Reyes, 21, of Long Branch, is charged with one count of first degree Murder for the death of Jennifer A. Pizzuto, 40, of Long Branch. Pizzuto was found dead in a second floor bedroom at 140 Rockwell Ave. after Long Branch police responded to a 10:38 p.m. call reporting the discovery of the unresponsive female.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Long Branch Police Department led to the arrest of Aparicio-Reyes Monday after he was found inside a 6th Avenue apartment, where he was taken into custody without incident.

Aparicio-Reyes is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $1 million bail with no option to post 10 percent, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen. Judge Kilgallen also ordered Aparicio-Reyes may not return to the scene of the crime, if he were to be released on bail.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Ryu Washburne, of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443 or Detective Marshall Brown, of the Long Branch Police Department, at 732-222-1000.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Matthews.