After life sentence tossed, new term for NJ man who admitted to killing Long Branch woman

🔴 NJ man gets new sentence for killing woman

🔴 Life term was handed down by judge, before conviction was overturned

🔴 40-year-old victim was beaten, strangled in Long Branch

A 28-year-old Long Branch man who admitted to killing a woman in 2015 has been sentenced to 30 years in state prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced Tuesday.

Christopher Aparicio-Reyes had initially been convicted of murder in the strangulation and beating death of 40-year-old Jennifer Pizzuto, also of Long Branch.

A state appeals court overturned that conviction in August 2021, saying the judge had improperly instructed the jury that found Aparicio-Reyes guilty.

During a four-day trial in 2018, Aparicio-Reyes admitted to violently beating Pizzuto, telling the jury that he was drinking beer and using cocaine on the night of the killing.

He told law enforcement that Pizzuto had tried to steal 50 dollars from him, before he first attacked her.

Long Branch police responding to a Rockwell Avenue home on Dec. 13, 2015 found Pizzuto’s body in an upstairs bedroom, badly beaten, with several teeth knocked out.

🔴 After conviction overturned, Aparicio-Reyes makes plea deal

Aparicio-Reyes was arrested the next afternoon after being found hiding at a local friend’s house.

Pizzuto was survived by three daughters and her own mother, according to her obituary.

In rendering its decision in 2021, the appeals court ordered a new trial.

Prosecutors consulted with Pizzuto’s surviving family and negotiations ended with Aparicio-Reyes pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter in May 2023.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom