Prosecutor: Man pleads to dumping body after overdose
FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) - Prosecutors say a New Jersey man faces up to five years in prison after acknowledging having dumped the body of a woman who overdosed as the two were doing drugs last year.
The Monmouth County prosecutor's office said 51-year-old Edward Ramirez of Brick pleaded guilty Friday to disturbing or desecrating human remains.
Authorities say the body of 35-year-old Jamie Leis of Toms River was found wrapped in a trap near the curb on the Wall Township street in May 2018, and surveillance footage led to Ramirez's arrest the following month.
Ramirez's attorney has said his client panicked because he feared being implicated in her death, but had he sought help he wouldn't have been subject to prosecution because of the state's Good Samaritan Act.
Sentencing is scheduled Oct. 25.