News
RB School Community Mourns Death of Beloved Teacher Authorities term death 'suspicious' but release few details
By Ryan Fennell
RED BANK - The Red Bank Middle School lost a valuable member of its community on Monday when police, responding to a 911 call, discovered the body of 33-year-old social studies teacher Jonelle Melton in her home on West Sylvania Avenue in Neptune City.
Authorities have not disclosed a cause of death but initially ruled Melton's death "suspicious."
According to Monmouth County Administrative Assistant Prosecutor Mike Cunningham, the prosecutor's office is awaiting the determination of the medical examiner before commenting further.
A post-mortem examination was scheduled for Tuesday but a determination of a cause of death has yet to be announced.
Very few details surrounding Melton's death have been released by the prosecutor's office.
Michael Melton, Jonelle Melton's estranged husband, is also a teacher at Red Bank Middle School.
Red Bank Superintendent of Schools Laura Morana said on Tuesday that the two teachers had recently been collaborating on a school project.
According to Melton's attorney, Ron A. Venturi, Melton discovered his estranged wife's body on Monday after receiving permission from his superiors to check on her because she had not shown up for work.
"They saw each other every morning. They were working on a project together at the school and that's what made him nervous when she didn't arrive on Monday," Venturi said.
Venturi said that Melton has been despondent and distraught since discovering the body and has been cooperating completely with investigators.
"Just because a marriage dissolves, it doesn't mean a friendship dissolves with it," Venturi said. "What's interesting about the dissolution of their marriage is that neither one of them hired an attorney."
According to Cunningham, Neptune City Police received a 911 call at approximately 9:07 a.m. on Monday September, 14.
Neptune City Police and First Aid responded to Melton's apartment at 311 West Sylvania Avenue where they found Melton unresponsive.
No further details have been made available.
"The timeline pretty much starts and stops," Cunningham said. "The matter is being investigated jointly by the Neptune City Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office."
"(The death) is certainly suspicious," Cunningham added. "But we are awaiting the determination by the medical examiner before going beyond that."
Morana had the difficult job of informing faculty, staff, and students and their families of Melton's passing.
"It was not an easy day," said Morana. "With the support and plan that went into effect this morning (Tuesday), we had an exhausting day."
According to Morana the process of notifying faculty and staff began on Monday morning and a letter was sent home to students' families.
Notifying the students began on Tuesday morning in each homeroom class with the aid of RBMS counselors, members of the middle school's crisis management team, members of the Red Bank Regional High School crisis management team and members of the Monmouth County Traumatic Loss Coalition (TLC).
"We've had amazing counselors and experts who have supported us over the last two days," said Morana.
RBMS Principal Maria Iozzi expressed her grief over the school community's loss of Melton.
"Ms. Melton was a teacher who loved her job and enjoyed her subject matter," Iozzi said. "She actually engaged the students. She was a phenomenal teacher, colleague, and friend. Unfortunately we're saddened by the tragic loss. She will be missed."
"On so many levels she touched so many lives here at our school," Iozzi added. "That was particularly evident today."
Iozzi expressed the difficulty the faculty and staff experienced having to inform the students of the loss.
"It was difficult. Some kids came in knowing and some did not," said Iozzi. "It was a very long day for them. We had all the support we needed in all the places we needed to have it."
"It's not just the impact we've had on the teaching and learning process when it comes to the children, but also it is a collegial aspect of being a member of a school community that she had contributed to in such an amazing and positive way," Morana added. "The reaction of the children was what would have been expected because she had actively participated in many of the programs and activities sponsored here at the school."
Wendy Turnock a counselor at the school and member of the education association, reflected on the impact Melton had on the school community.
"First of all, I can't believe we're having this conversation," Turnock said. "It's so unreal to me. Jonelle was everything to everyone. She had the ability to determine what a staff member needed, what a child needed and then give it to them, provide it for them. Whether it was support, whether it was being punished she had the ability to pull it off."
"Some people try and can't pull that off," continued Turnock. "Jonelle Melton was a friend to everybody on every level."
"I think it's going to be very difficult for a lot of staff members for a long time," added Turnock. "I don't think we'll be able to replace Jonelle. She'll always be in our hearts."
Melton taught at RBMS for the past eight years as a social studies teacher, most recently at the fifth grade level.
According to Morana, Melton had the ability to form a strong relationship with nearly everyone she encountered.
"Whether she knew someone who had been working here for eight years or ten or twenty or who just started in September, she had already made that connection with teachers," said Morana. "That's why you feel, and you hear, and you see just how much she is going to be missed because of the connections she was almost indirectly making with people."
"It's amazing in just the last five to seven days of school, the children who had her as a teacher, they already formed that bond," Morana added.
Morana praised the support the school received from the high school and the county as well as the crisis management team members at the middle school.
"We feel much more comfortable now knowing where the kids are, where the staff members are because this is just the beginning," said Morana. "We're still dealing with the arrangements and with not knowing the cause of death That is another set of emotions that will surface on the part of many different people."
Morana said that many of the schoolchildren asked what had happened to Melton but faculty and staff were unable to provide an answer at this time.
"We had to say we don't know," Morana said. "We're not hiding anything."
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office is encouraging anybody with knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Melton's death to come forward and contact Detective Daniel Baldwin of the Prosecutor's Office at (800) 533-7443 or Detective Hoover Cano of the Neptune City Police Department at (732) 775-1615.
