NJ man sentenced to 25 years in prison for death of 3-month-old daughter

A New Jersey man was sentenced for the death of his three-month-old daughter.

On Friday, May 8, 2026, Ruben Santiago, 37, of Lakewood, was sentenced to 25 years in New Jersey State Prison.

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Santiago had pleaded guilty in January to aggravated manslaughter in connection to the death of his three-month-old daughter back on May 5, 2025, in Lakewood Township.

Santiago’s sentencing will be subject to the terms of the No Early Release Act (NERA) which means he must serve at least 85% of his prison sentence before he can be considered eligible for parole.

On May 5, 2025, around 7:20 p.m., Lakewood Township Police responded to a home on Pinehurst Drive for a report of a three-month-old baby who was having difficulty breathing. The responding officers found the baby unresponsive. Medics arrived on scene and administered medical attention to the baby who was taken to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township. The baby was then transferred to the Pediatric Care Unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) in Neptune where she was pronounced dead the next day.

An examination from the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed the baby died from blunt force trauma to the head which caused fracturing and subdural hematoma. The girl’s death was ruled a homicide.

Investigators determined Santiago as well as the baby’s mother were responsible for the girl’s death. They were both taken into custody on May 7, 2025, and transported to the Ocean County Jail where Santiago has remained since that day. On Jan. 16, 2026, the baby’s mother was released from jail on pre-trial monitoring. She was later exonerated from any wrongdoing and the charges against her were dismissed.