By: Richard L. Smith
A tragic case out of Seaside Heights has led to murder charges against a Keansburg man accused of brutally assaulting a woman who later died from her injuries.
Investigators said 41-year-old Emiliano Davila is now charged with the murder of 32-year-old Mary O’Connor, who was found with severe head trauma and signs of strangulation before dying at Community Medical Center in Toms River.
Police were called to the hospital on November 3 after O’Connor was dropped off by two men who quickly left the scene.
Doctors discovered she had a brain bleed and was unresponsive.
Detectives later learned that Davila was one of the men who brought her in and that the pair had been in a dating relationship.
Investigators believe the attack happened the night before inside a Seaside Heights motel.
Davila was taken into custody later that same day by members of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Brick Township Police.
He was first charged with aggravated assault in a domestic violence case.
O’Connor’s condition worsened, and she died two days later on November 5.
The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head, resulting in a subdural hematoma.
Davila remains held in the Ocean County Jail as prosecutors move forward with the upgraded murder charge.