Woman Who Killed Her 2 Children In Monmouth Co. Granted Clemency By Outgoing Gov. Murphy

UNION BEACH, NJ — On his final day in office Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy granted clemency to Maria Montalvo, a Union Beach woman currently serving a 100-year prison sentence for killing her baby daughter and toddler son in 1994, after she poured gasoline on them and burned them to death while they were strapped to their car seats.

Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said he was in "revulsion and disbelief" at Murphy's decision.

"I cannot express strongly enough our office’s collective revulsion and disbelief upon hearing this news,” Santiago told the Asbury Park Press. “Providing this defendant the opportunity to apply for an early parole, with a full half of her sentence still to be served, is the polar opposite of justice."

Montalvo, now 61, was convicted of two counts of murder, two counts of felony murder and arson. She was sentenced in 1997. With Murphy's decision, she will become immediately eligible for parole based on good behavior in prison.

"We feel that we first must offer a solemn reminder of precisely why Maria Montalvo was serving a 100-year prison sentence," said Prosecutor Santiago. "On Tuesday, February 22, 1994, (she) secured her daughter, 18-month-old Zoraida-Angelin Aponte, and her son, 28-month-old Rafael-Louis Aponte, in her Volkswagen Jetta. She then made a brief pit stop at a local gas station to purchase $3 of gasoline, pumped into a plastic container. She then drove to her in-laws’ home on Buttonwood Avenue in Long Branch, doused her children with the gasoline, and ignited it, killing them both."

Montalvo was 30 and lived in Union Beach at the time. The Asbury Park Press reported she had argued with the children's father, her fiance, before she drove to his mother's home. The couple had two older children, who she dropped off at school earlier that morning.

The car burst into flames moments after she pulled into the driveway, according to a New York Times archived report. Her mother-in-law testified that she saw Montalvo throw an object towards a gasoline can in the car's front seat as she got out of the car.

Santiago said the jury that heard her case was deadlocked on whether she should die via lethal injection. Instead, they gave her a 100-year prison sentence, with the requirement that she serve at least 60 years before the possibility of parole. She would not have been eligible for parole until the year 2054, when she was 90 years old.

Murphy changed all that on Tuesday. So far, she's served 28 years of her prison sentence.

Murphy granted clemency to 148 people on his final day in office. Twenty four of those 148 prisoners were convicted of murder, felony murder or manslaughter; one committed vehicular homicide. Murphy's pardons meant some were released from prison right away, with the requirement that they check in with a parole officer.

Others, like Montalvo, can apply for early release.

In total, during his two terms in office, Murphy granted clemency to 455 prisoners. Murphy hasn't just granted more criminal pardons than any other New Jersey governor; he's granted more than every other governor in the past 30 years combined.

Murphy called it "the conclusion of a historic effort to extend meaningful second chances and advance criminal justice reform in New Jersey."

Prosecutor Santiago continued to blast Murphy's decision.

"How (she) could ever be viewed as a suitable candidate for leniency is not a concept we are able to defend or comprehend,” Santiago told the Asbury Park Press.

He said the final moments for her two young children were "mired in unimaginable pain, terror and agony."

“They were not provided the leniency of any second chances. These injustices are why our criminal justice system exists: for an opportunity to correct them, at least to the degree we are able ... We thank the Asbury Park Press and its staff for bringing attention to this case and many similar others, with an eye on questioning whether justice is being served."

Union Beach Woman, Guilty Of Killing Her 2 Children By Fire, Seeks A New Trial (December 2025)