Mark Richard Austin (Photo: Ocean County Jail)
A 34-year-old Brick Township man will spend the rest of life behind bars in connection with the murder of his father.
Mark J. Austin, 34, of Brick Township, was sentenced by the Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan last week to life in New Jersey state prison without the possibility of parole for the death of his father, Mark Richard Austin, also of Brick Township, which occurred at his home in a shocking incident that played out Sept. 7, 2019.
Mark Richard Austin (left) and Jeray Melton. (Photo: OCPO)
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Austin was found guilty of murder by a jury in October 2025. He was found to have paid Jeray Melton, a man he met while imprisoned at a juvenile detention center, to kill his father with a baseball bat in his home. The bloody baseball bat used as the murder weapon was found near the home, and Melton eventually took a plea deal in the case in exchange for testifying against his former cellmate. Melton would tell jurors that Austin offered to pay him $50,000 to kill his father over monetary and family disputes. The trial chronicled the drug-fueled relationship shared by nearly all involved in the case.
On February 25, 2020, Melton pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter before Judge Ryan.
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