By: Richard L. Smith
A jury in Ocean County has convicted a Brick Township resident of arranging the brutal killing of his own father, prosecutors announced.
According to a statement released by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, 34-year-old Mark J. Austin was found guilty of murder in connection with the death of his father, Mark Richard Austin, who was discovered inside his Acorn Drive home on September 7, 2019.
Following a nearly five-week trial before Judge Guy P. Ryan, jurors determined that Austin paid or promised payment in exchange for the killing, an aggravating factor that carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Austin was also convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon and is scheduled for sentencing on December 12, 2025.
Authorities said Brick Township police officers were called to the home in 2019, where they found the elder Austin dead from apparent blunt force trauma.
A joint investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Major Crime Unit, Brick Township detectives, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit revealed that Austin conspired with Jeray Melton, 34, of Salem City, to carry out the killing.
Both men were arrested on September 13, 2019, and have remained jailed since.
Prosecutors said Melton admitted guilt in 2020, pleading to aggravated manslaughter. His sentencing is still pending.
“This defendant orchestrated a calculated and cold-blooded plot to take the life of another human being – his own father,” Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. 
“We are grateful to the jury for arriving at the truth and holding Austin accountable for his actions. And we are hopeful this verdict delivers a level of peace and justice to the loved ones of Mark Richard Austin.”