Lakewood Couple Indicted for Murder in Death of Three Month Old Daughter

Ruben Santiago, 36, and Caitlin Gibson, 28 (Photos: Ocean County Jail)

A Lakewood couple have been indicted on a charge of murdering their three month old daughter by way of blunt force trauma, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Ruben Santiago, 36, and Caitlin Gibson, 28, both of Lakewood, were indicted by a grand jury sitting in Ocean County in connection with the death of their three-month-old daughter on May 5, 2025, in Lakewood. According to authorities, Lakewood police officers were called to a residence on Pinehurst Drive at about 7:20 p.m. for a report of a three-month-old infant having difficulty breathing. Responding officers found the infant to be unresponsive.

Lakewood Township Emergency Medical Services personnel subsequently arrived on scene and immediately began to administer medical attention to the infant, who was brought to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township and later transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. The baby died the following day.

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An autopsy conducted May 7 determined that the cause of the infant’s death was blunt force trauma to the head causing fracturing and subdural hematoma, and the manner of death to be homicide. That same day, both Santiago and Gibson were taken into custody at Lakewood Township police headquarters. They were later transported to the Ocean County Jail where they have been detained ever since.

Authorities have not commented on the detailed circumstances of the incident.