Illegal alien pleads guilty to attempted murder of woman at the jersey shore

Point Pleasant man pleads guilty to attempted murder in 2022 strangulation case

Toms River, NJ — Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that 31-year-old Juan Santiago-Rojas of Point Pleasant Borough has pled guilty to attempted murder in connection with the violent assault of a woman inside a Butler Avenue residence in 2022.

The plea, entered on August 18 before Superior Court Judge Dina M. Vicari, carries a recommended sentence of ten years in New Jersey State Prison under the No Early Release Act. Santiago-Rojas is scheduled to be sentenced on October 3.

On August 22, 2022, Point Pleasant police officers responded to a residence and discovered a woman unconscious with severe head and neck injuries. She was taken to Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center in Brick before being transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she survived after treatment.

An investigation by multiple Ocean County law enforcement units determined that Santiago-Rojas had assaulted and strangled the victim until she lost consciousness. He was initially charged with aggravated assault the following day, but fled the state before he could be arrested.

Santiago-Rojas was located more than a year later, on December 8, 2023, when authorities in Wilmington, North Carolina, took him into custody. He was extradited to New Jersey in January 2024 and has been held in Ocean County Jail since.

The attempted murder charge was formally filed on January 22, 2024, after investigators concluded the extent of the assault.

Federal officials noted Santiago-Rojas is an undocumented immigrant with multiple ICE detainers.

Key Points

Juan Santiago-Rojas pled guilty to attempted murder for a 2022 strangulation attack in Point Pleasant.
The victim suffered serious head and neck injuries but survived after hospitalization.
Santiago-Rojas fled and was captured in North Carolina in December 2023 before being extradited to New Jersey.

A fugitive who strangled a woman unconscious in Point Pleasant has now admitted to attempted murder and faces a decade behind bars.

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