A grand jury in Ocean County has indicted two Lakewood parents on murder charges in the death of their three-month-old daughter earlier this year, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Ruben Santiago, 36, and Caitlin Gibson, 28, were charged after investigators concluded they were responsible for the fatal injuries that led to their child’s death on May 6, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
Police responded to the family’s Pinehurst Drive home on May 5 after receiving a call that the infant was having difficulty breathing. Officers and emergency responders found the child unresponsive and transported her to Ocean University Medical Center before she was transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
A post-mortem examination by the Ocean County Medical Examiner determined the child died from blunt force trauma to the head, which caused skull fractures and a subdural hematoma. The manner of death was ruled homicide.
Authorities said the investigation was led by the prosecutor’s Major Crime and Special Victims Units, along with Lakewood police and the county sheriff’s crime scene investigators. Santiago and Gibson were arrested May 7 and have been held at the Ocean County Jail since then.
I wonder what the Facebook hater have to say
Don’t need to see their faces
I don’t understand how any mother could be involved in murdering their own child. Sad world we live in. RIP precious child. 🙏