A Lakewood man has admitted responsibility in the death of his three-month-old daughter.
Ruben Santiago, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated manslaughter before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan At sentencing on March 4, prosecutors said they will seek a 25-year term in New Jersey State Prison, subject to the No Early Release Act, which would require Santiago to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
The plea stems from a May 5, 2025 incident in Lakewood, when police were dispatched to a home on Pinehurst Drive after receiving a report of an infant having difficulty breathing. Officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department arrived to find the three-month-old unresponsive.
Emergency medical personnel attempted life-saving measures at the scene before transporting the infant to Ocean University Medical Center. She was later transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead the following day.
An autopsy conducted by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the child died from blunt force trauma to the head, which caused skull fractures and a subdural hematoma. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators from the prosecutor’s Major Crime Unit and Special Victims Unit, working alongside the Lakewood police and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, concluded that Santiago and the child’s mother, identified by authorities as Gibson, were responsible for the infant’s death.
Both parents were taken into custody on May 7, 2025, at Lakewood Township Police headquarters and have remained detained at the Ocean County Jail since their arrest.
While Santiago’s guilty plea resolves the case against him, prosecutors said the charges against Gibson are still pending.