By: Tracie Carter
A Lakewood man has been sentenced to 25 years in New Jersey State Prison in connection with the death of his three-month-old daughter, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that Ruben Santiago, 37, was sentenced on May 8, 2026, by Judge Guy P. Ryan after previously pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter.
Under the terms of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA), Santiago must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He entered the guilty plea on January 15, 2026.
Authorities said the investigation began on May 5, 2025, when officers with the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to a home on Pinehurst Drive after receiving reports of a three-month-old infant experiencing difficulty breathing.
When police arrived, the infant was found unresponsive. Emergency responders provided medical aid before the child was transported to Ocean University Medical Center and later transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where the infant was pronounced dead on May 6, 2025.
According to prosecutors, a post-mortem examination conducted by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the infant died from blunt force trauma to the head that caused skull fractures and a subdural hematoma.
The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators from the prosecutor’s office Major Crime Unit, Special Victims Unit, Lakewood police, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office determined that Santiago and the child’s mother, identified as Gibson, were initially charged in connection with the infant’s death.
However, prosecutors said that during Santiago’s guilty plea, he exonerated Gibson of wrongdoing in the child’s death.
As a result, the charges against her were dismissed in the interests of justice.