The Monmouth County Prosecutor‘s office is awaiting the results of an autopsy, due as soon as today, before saying anything about the cause of death in the case of Red Bank Middle School teacher Jonelle Melton earlier this week.
Meantime, the Asbury Park Press, citing “sources familiar with” the investigation reports that Melton’s estranged husband, Michael Melton, who is also a teacher at the school, discovered her body in her Neptune City apartment Monday. He’d gone there with the permission of school officials to check on her when she didn’t report for work, the newspaper says.
The Press also quotes an attorney, Ron Venturi, saying that Michael Melton is cooperating with authorities in the investigation by giving DNA samples, and that Melton had nothing to do with his 33-year-old wife’s death.
“In no way was he involved in this tragedy. He has been fully and completely cooperative,” Venturi said.
The Press says Michael Melton, of Eatontown, initiated divorce proceedings in February, citing irreconcilable differences. Venturi told the newspaper that the couple had continued as friends.
“They saw each other every morning, they were working on a project together,” Venturi said. “Just because a marriage has broken up doesn’t mean a friendship does.”
