Toms River Man Gets 15 Years In Infant Daughter's Killing

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man whose 6-week-old daughter died after he squeezed her so hard he broke all her ribs in August 2013, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter, according to a report.

The Asbury Park Press report on the sentencing of Michael Rojas, 40, of Martin Road, said he pleaded guilty April 25 to killing the baby. He was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels on Friday.

Rojas also is a registered sex offender, who was convicted in 2009 of befriending a 15-year-old girl and having sex with her, according to the New Jersey State Police sex offender database.

Rojas and his wife, Giovanna, 37, were arrested in February 2014 and charged with aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment in the baby’s death, according to a Patch report at the time. But the charges against Giovanna were later dropped following the investigation into the baby's death.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the autopsy on the baby showed she died of exsanguination — severe blood loss — and compression trauma to the chest and abdomen, which means she had been squeezed.

The Asbury Park Press report on the sentencing said the baby suffered 16 broken ribs, some which punctured her organs, causing internal bleeding, and she suffered injuries to her spine and brain stem, according to a statement from Giovanna read at the sentencing.

Michael Rojas was indicted on a murder charge because the medical evidence in the case he purposely and knowingly caused the injuries, the prosecutor's office said.

The baby, who was born July 17, 2013, was not breathing when she was brought to Community Medical Center in Toms River the night of Aug. 27, 2013, the prosecutor’s office said at the time of the two were arrested. Hospital staff revived the infant and transferred her to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, but she died early the next morning, just after turning 6 weeks old.

Photo via Ocean County Corrections Department