By John Burton
FREEHOLD – A Brooklyn, N.Y., man pleaded guilty Monday in Superior Court to leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death of a Keansburg woman in 2011.
Dexter H. Jeanty, 24, Brooklyn, pleaded to the second-degree offense that contributed to the death of 26-year-old Mary Macaluso, whose body was discovered along the northbound lane of Route 18, according to Charles Webster, a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Jeanty remains free on $150,000 bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 20. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the prosecutor’s office will recommend Jeanty be sentenced to a five-year prison sentence, according to Webster.
An off-duty Monmouth Beach police officer discovered Macaluso’s body at about 7 a.m. on Oct. 9, 2011, along the roadway in Ocean Township. Ocean police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office handled the investigation.
The investigation determined that Macaluso was on a date the prior evening when the vehicle they were traveling in broke down. Jeanty arrived in a tow truck to transport the vehicle and Macaluso and her date back to the date’s Wall home. Macaluso then made arrangements with Jeanty to take her to her Keansburg home, authorities said.
Jeanty acknowledged in court that while they were traveling through Ocean Township, Macaluso jumped out of the moving tow truck and was injured. Jeanty testified he slowed his truck down but did not stop when the woman jumped out, with Jeanty leaving the scene and never calling for assistance. Authorities said Macaluso died as a result of injuries she received jumping from the vehicle. An autopsy found Macaluso’s cause of death to be from blunt force injuries, including radiating skull fractures to the back of the head, according to Webster.
