LACEY – A Forked River man faces life imprisonment for strangling his wife and leaving her body on the side of the road.
Jeremy B. Cruz, 53, killed his wife, Dawn C. Cruz, 51, on October 30, 2022. A driver spotted her body near the intersection of Colonial and Asbury avenues in Ocean Township in Monmouth County.
Jeremy Cruz had turned himself in to the Berkeley Township Police Department at around the same time as her body was found. During his trial, he said it happened because of an argument and that he was intoxicated. The jury returned a guilty verdict on first degree murder.
“This conviction happened to coincide with National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, and it’s difficult to conceive of a crime more senseless, or a victim more deserving of justice, than a person killed by their spouse over nothing more than a simple argument,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said. “We sincerely thank the jury for their service in this matter and hope that the verdict delivers some small measure of solace to Dawn’s friends, family, and loved ones.”
