OCEAN TOWNSHIP, NJ – An Ocean County man has been arrested and charged with first degree murder after killing his wife and leaving her body alongside a road in Monmouth County.
Prosecutors allege Jeremy B. Cruz, 51, of Forked River murdered his wife, 51-year-old Dawn C. Cruz. and dumped her body early Sunday morning at the intersection of Asbury and Colonial Avenues.
Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said police discovered the body of a woman who appeared to have sustained severe injuries observed by a concerned motorist at the intersection of Asbury and Colonial avenues in the Township of Ocean.
Dawn Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene by responding officers.
Later that morning, her husband Jeremy Cruz turned himself in to authorities at Berkeley Township Police Department headquarters in Ocean County.
“A joint investigation by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Ocean Township Police Department, Asbury Park Police Department, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, and Berkeley Township Police Department ultimately led to the arrest and charging of Cruz,” Santiago said. “He remains in custody pending a first appearance and detention hearing to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.”
Cruz is facing life in prison if convicted.