Teen stabbed to death was an 'amazing' girl, family and school say

[up2trouble]

I'M WATCHING TV AGAIN. THIS ONE WAS FEATURED TONIGHT ON INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY'S THE MURDER TAPES.


https://www.gofundme.com/f/remember-madison

https://www.nj.com/monmouth/2018/09/..._long_bra.html

Family and friends are mourning the loss of a 16-year-old high school student who was killed late Saturday night in Long Branch.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said police found 16-year-old Madison Wells suffering from stab wounds at a home a few blocks from her home, also in Long Branch. She was pronounced dead at Monmouth Medical Center shortly after.

A cousin, and authorities later Monday, identified the young woman as Madison Wells.

Wells' cousin said she had moved back to New Jersey a few years ago from Florida to be with her father after her mother passed away.

In a statement to the school community, Long Branch Superintendent Michael Salvatore said they will make grief counselors available at the high school and recommended those struggling with the loss take advantage of the services of the Traumatic Loss Coalition for Youth.

Salvatore - who did not name the victim - called her "an amazing young woman," and said the community will mourn this loss together.

Brittany Davis, Wells' former babysitter, told NJ Advance Media that she's known Wells since she was 3 years old.

"She was bright and full of love, and eager to learn," Davis, who still lives in Florida, said. "She's always had a kind heart."

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Wells' family with funeral costs.

By Sunday morning, authorities had arrested and charged 20-year-old Bryan Cordero-Castro, 20, of Long Branch. The prosecutors office said Sunday that the two knew each other, but did not explain the nature of their relationship.

Wells lives on Cleveland Avenue in Long Branch, and she was found stabbed a few blocks away on Van Pelt Place.

The prosecutors office also said Cordero-Castro was living in the country illegally and is from Guatemala.

He is scheduled to appear before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge James J. McGann at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13.

[up2trouble]

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ap...697&fhid=27018

Madison Michelle Wells

Long Branch - Madison Michelle Wells, 16, of Long Branch, died on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.

She was born in Long Branch and lived in Florida before moving back to Long Branch in 2014.

Madison began her junior year at Long Branch High School last week.

Madison loved making at home science projects, doing her make-up and bike riding. She loved to cook. She had a beautiful smile and was very charismatic and outgoing.

She was predeceased by her mother, Michelle Yurko in 2014; her maternal grandmother, Constance Yurko and her paternal grandmother, Edith Fornino.

Surviving are her father, Edward Wells; sisters, Tina Wells, Lexi Wells and Danielle DiGirolamo; her paternal grandfather, Edward Wells, Jr.; aunts and uncles, Lauren Wells, Valerie Wells-Wulffer, Connie and Lou Cicalese and Rob Heinemann, Joe Pron and John Yurko; cousins, Joseph Cicalese and Jennifer Hughes and Louie Cicalese; and nieces, Hailey Marsella and Mikayla Rivera.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit from 1-5 pm Friday at the Fiore Funeral Home, 236 Monmouth Road, Oakhurst, Ocean Township. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to her family in care of the funeral home. For condolences, please visit www.fiorefuneralhomes.com.

[up2trouble]

https://nj1015.com/16-year-old-stabb...-at-plea-deal/

LONG BRANCH — Bryan Cordero-Castro, who has admitted to stabbing his 16-year-old girlfriend to death in September of 2018, is expected to serve 35 years in prison after striking a plea deal with prosecutors.

Family members say they're frustrated by and hurt with the deal, which downgraded a murder charge to manslaughter, and told Townsquare Media they don't expect to ever get justice.

Madison Wells, 16, was found stabbed in the chest in an apartment on Van Pelt Place in Long Branch and died at Monmouth Medical Center, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. Cordero-Castro, 21, was arrested two hours later and initially charged with first-degree murder.

He pleaded guilty Friday to first degree aggravated manslaughter and third-degree attempted escape.

Gramiccioni said Wells ended her relationship with Cordero-Castro. He then called and texted her 230 times in a 9-hour period leading up to the stabbing, prosecutor's say.

Madison who agreed to speak with him outside her Van Pelt Place home, where she was stabbed before stumbling back into the house and collapsing on the floor, according to the prosecutor.

After his arrest Cordero-Castro tried to escape while in custody, authorities have said.

Madison Wells' sister Tina Wells told Townsquare Media she is "very,very upset at the justice system" at the sentence.

"We are devastated, distraught and angry. We will never get the justice Madison deserved even though no amount of time would have been justifiable for what he did," Tina Wells said.

She said the plea deal was "another train that hit us in the hearts," but is not mad at prosecutors or the judge.

"I am talking about the way the laws were made that lets these things happen," Tina Wells said."How a drug offender will get prison but someone who murders an innocent girl will get to be release at age 50 and still have a life.

The prosecutor's office told New Jersey 101.5 it had consulted with the family before agreeing to the plea deal. Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said Tina Wells had been part of those discussions.

“Never once did any member of the family express second thoughts about the agreement," he said. "The family wanted the plea entered agreement done right away, endorsed the resolution and was satisfied and happy with it."

Cordero-Castro is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 7.

[Nic B]

I watched that one last night, too!

[Nic B]

The articles are worded differently about where she was stabbed. According to what I watched last night, her aunt Tina Wells picked her up and took her to her (aunt's) house. She stepped outside to talk to someone (Bryan) and he stabbed her and ran. She made it into the front entryway of her aunt's house where she told her aunt "he stabbed me" before she collapsed.

The cops tricked Bryan into confessing by saying that Madison named him as the one who stabbed her before she died.