TOMS RIVER, NJ – Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that 41-year-old Emiliano Davila of Keansburg has been indicted by a grand jury on a charge of murder in connection with the death of 32-year-old Mary O’Connor of Seaside Heights.
On November 3, 2025, Toms River police officers responded to Community Medical Center for a report of a woman suffering from blunt force trauma to the head. The woman, identified as Mary O’Connor, had been dropped off at the hospital by two men who left immediately after. O’Connor was found to be unresponsive, suffering from a brain bleed, and showed visible bruising consistent with strangulation.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit and the Seaside Heights Police Department determined that Davila was one of the individuals who brought O’Connor to the hospital. Investigators learned that Davila and O’Connor were in a dating relationship and that he had assaulted her the previous night at a Seaside Heights motel where she had been staying.
Davila was arrested later that day by detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force and the Brick Township Police Department and charged with domestic violence aggravated assault by strangulation. He was lodged in the Ocean County Jail, where he remains in custody.
On November 5, 2025, O’Connor succumbed to her injuries. A post-mortem examination conducted by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma resulting in a subdural hematoma, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. The charge against Davila was subsequently upgraded to murder.
Prosecutor Billhimer credited Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Meghan O’Neill for presenting the case to the grand jury and commended the collaborative work of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Narcotics Strike Force, Seaside Heights Police Department, Toms River Police Department, Brick Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.