FREEHOLD — A Middletown woman was sentenced for leaving the scene of a July 2015 motor vehicle accident that took the life of a 15-year-old Atlantic Highlands girl and for endangering the welfare of her juvenile passengers, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Toni A. Marletta, 50, of Thompson Avenue in the Leonardo section of Middletown Township, was sentenced by Judge Ronald L. Reisner on Dec. 2 to a seven-year term in a New Jersey state prison on the second degree count Knowingly Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in a Fatality and a concurrent four-year sentence on the third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child counts.
Marletta also received an additional six-month concurrent prison term for failing to have her motor vehicle insured and a one year loss of license for leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident.
Marletta was sentenced after pleading guilty before Judge Reisner on Sept. 16, 2016, to one count of second degree Knowingly Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in a Fatality and third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child in connection with the fatal motor vehicle collision on July 7, 2015.
Middletown Township Police were dispatched at approximately 8:24 p.m., on July 7, 2015, to Route 36 in the area of Avenue D for a report of a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle. Upon arrival, police immediately located the 15-year-old victim, Marissa Procopio, of Atlantic Highlands. She was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune Township where she died the next day.
An investigation into the fatal collision by Middletown Township Police, in cooperation with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team, determined the victim was crossing Route 36 in the area of Avenue D when she was struck by a motor vehicle driven by Marletta.
Marletta, who had three 16-year-old girls in her car at the time of the collision, fled the scene, but the investigation led police to Marletta’s vehicle later that evening. The vehicle displayed damage consistent with the collision.
Marletta ultimately arrived at the Middletown Township Police Department, but was later released pending further investigation into the collision. The investigation progressed and Marletta was charged on July 15, 2015, with Knowingly Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in a Fatality.
The case was prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle. Marletta is represented by Peter M. O’Mara, Esq., of Little Silver.
