Autopsy shows broken ribs, brain bleed in Lakewood baby murder case

LAKEWOOD — Two Lakewood parents have been indicted on charges of murder in the violent killing of their newborn.

In May, 36-year-old Ruben Santiago and 28-year-old Caitlin Gibson were arrested about two days after the death of their three-month-old daughter.

The latest development in the criminal case comes as we find out about more harrowing injuries such a small baby had suffered before her death.

Lakewood mom calls 911, police find baby unresponsive

On May 5, a person who identified herself as the baby’s mom called 911, saying that the newborn had just been discharged from a hospital the night before.

Gibson met with responding officers in the parking lot of the residence and brought them inside the home, where Santiago was holding the unresponsive baby.

The newborn was rushed first to Ocean Medical Center in Brick and then to Jersey Shore Medical Center, where she was treated while in cardiac arrest and then placed on life support.

At this point, Gibson told police that the newborn had been vomiting and had diarrhea from May 3 to the next day, which is when she first brought the baby to Jersey Shore Medical Center, according to an affidavit filed by investigators.

The baby was given intravenous fluids and ultimately sent home.

The next medical emergency with the baby

Gibson said the baby appeared to be improving on May 5, only throwing up a couple of times.

Santiago came home from work, and between 6 and 7 p.m., changed the baby’s diaper and put her in an infant seat in a bedroom, investigators said.

When Gibson entered the bedroom, she saw the baby looking “limp” and called 911.
Gibson said there was no history of traumatic incidents in the recent past or previous medical conditions.

Previous broken bones had started to heal

The newborn was pronounced dead on May 6.

An autopsy was carried out the following day at Community Medical Center in Toms River. An Ocean County medical examiner found not only a brain bleed and skull fracture that were determined to be the cause of death, but also seven broken ribs and a broken wrist.

Those broken bones had already begun to heal, which shows they had happened sometime before the deadly weekend.

Read More: NJ mom and dad both charged with murder of 4-year-old

Lakewood dad tells conflicting stories to police

On May 7, both Gibson and Santiago were taken to Lakewood Police Department, where Gibson requested a lawyer.

Santiago went on to give some conflicting stories to the police, first saying that he had dropped a glass bottle on his baby’s head on May 5. He then said that he had dropped the newborn after picking her up from a baby seat in their living room.

Santiago first told police he was in a lower, crouched position when he dropped the baby but later said he had been standing.

Santiago also went from saying the baby had hit her head on the seat’s support bars, to the possibility that she had hit a TV stand.

Police checked back in with the medical examiner, who said none of those scenarios could have caused the "devastating" injuries the newborn had suffered, as a result of "substantial force.”

Santiago and Gibson have remained in custody, including after their indictment by an Ocean County Grand Jury on Wednesday.

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