TOMS RIVER – A grand jury has indicted two Lakewood residents on murder charges in the death of their three-month-old daughter earlier this year, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.
Ruben Santiago, 36, and Caitlin Gibson, 28, were indicted September 10 in connection with the May 5 death of their infant, who was found unresponsive at the family’s Pinehurst Drive home.
Lakewood police and emergency responders arrived at the residence around 7:20 p.m. after receiving a report that the baby was having difficulty breathing. The child was rushed to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick and later transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she died the following day.
A post-mortem examination conducted May 7 by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head, with the manner of death ruled a homicide.
Following an investigation by the prosecutor’s office, Lakewood police and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, both parents were arrested May 7 and have been held at the Ocean County Jail since.
Billhimer credited Chief Trial Attorney Kristin Pressman, who presented the case to the grand jury, and commended investigators for what he described as their “collaborative efforts” in the case.
