NJ Man Beat Girlfriend, Dropped Body At Hospital And Hid In Car Trunk, Documents Show

TOMS RIVER, NJ ? A Keansburg man accused of beating his girlfriend and leaving her unresponsive body at a hospital was found hiding in the trunk of a vehicle as authorities searched for him, according to court documents.

Emiliano Davila Jr., 41, remains in the Ocean County Jail on charges of murder and domestic violence aggravated assault in the death of Mary O'Connor, 32, according to jail records. He was ordered held until trial during a detention hearing on Friday.

O'Connor was taken to Community Medical Center on Nov. 2 by two men, one of whom was identified as Davila, whom she had been dating, according to authorities and the probable cause affidavits filed in the case.

She was unresponsive when Davila wheeled her into the emergency room just before midnight. The nurse who spoke with Davila asked him if she had suffered a fall or any kind of impact injury to her head, but Davila told the nurse no, according to the affidavit. The hospital called police shortly after that to report that she showed signed of having been assaulted, it said.

Detectives saw O'Connor in her hospital room and noted she was unresponsive and had bruises on her face, above her right eye and below her left eye, and had been diagnosed with a brain bleed. O'Connor died two days later. Read more: NJ Man Left Girlfriend's Unresponsive Body At Hospital After Attack, Prosecutor Says

Dr. Elizabeth Rouse of the Ocean County Medical Examiner's office conducted the autopsy on Nov. 6 and found bruises on O'Connor's face and body and a subdural hematoma. Rouse ruled O'Connor's death a homicide due to the hematoma caused by blunt force injuries to the head, according to the affidavit.

Authorities were quickly able to identify Davila as a suspect; he had checked into the hospital as a guest using his driver's license but left sometime after the hospital started treating O'Connor.

"Yelling and a commotion"

According to witness statements, surveillance video and videos found on Davila's cell phone, Davila and O'Connor had been fighting in her room at the motel in Seaside Heights.

One resident had called the motel owner to report "yelling and a commotion;" that resident told authorities the argument had gone on for a few hours, and he heard furniture being thrown. Another resident told authorities she heard the argument and furniture being moved around, and also heard O'Connor tell Davila to give her back her cell phone. She then saw them walk down to the parking lot.

A video on Davila's phone recorded part of the argument at about 6:30 p.m., which involved the purchase and use of cocaine, according to the affidavit. In it, Davila threatens to "smack the --- out" of O'Connor. She tells him they had bought 4 grams of cocaine the night before and smoked all of it, and at that point a slap can be heard and O'Connor loses her footing. Then she asks Davila why he hit her, according to the affidavit. Authorities retrieved nine videos in all, it said.

Surveillance video from the motel from Nov. 2 also shows physical interactions between the two. At 9:16 p.m. O'Connor can be seen opening the door to her room, dressed only in underwear. She "immediately appears to be pulled back into the room and the door closes," the affidavit said.

At 9:51 p.m. O'Connor leaves the unit with a tan backpack and Davila follows, and the two walk out of view. One minute later, they are seen walking separately back toward the room and they get into a struggle at the door. Davila appears to push O'Connor to the ground in the entryway and he goes into the room out of view of the camera. O'Connor's feet are then seen being "quickly pulled out of view of the camera, consistent with being dragged back into the room," the affidavit says.

At 10:37 p.m. Davila tries to leave and O'Connor grabs his left leg to try to stop him. Davila then bends down and the two struggle before Davila leaves the room with O'Connor still on the ground. He picks up a large plastic container from outside the room and walks out of view. O'Connor gets up and follows him, leaving the door ajar. She returns a minute later, then leaves again at 10:45 p.m., according to the affidavit.

No one is seen entering or leaving the room from that time, about 10:45 p.m., until Davila arrives at the hospital with O'Connor at 11:57 p.m., the affidavit says.

The second man

Authorities were able to identify the second man in the car, who had driven Davila and O'Connor to the hospital from the registration on his vehicle. He has not been charged in connection with O'Connor's death.

He told authorities he picked up O'Connor and Davila at the motel to take them to Asbury Park, at their request, and they started arguing and hitting and pushing each other as soon as they got in. They accused each other of assault, with Davila claiming O'Connor had thrown knives at him, and O'Connor saying Davila had choked her, the driver said.

He said the relationship between Davila, who he had known for about three years, and O'Connor, whom he had known for more than 10 years, was "volatile" and had seen the two hit and slap each other and throw things at each other on other occasions.

He told police that O'Connor did not appear to be under the influence of any intoxicants and said her speech was clear and not slurred, according to the affidavit.

While they were on the Garden State Parkway en route to Asbury Park, O'Connor fell asleep and started snoring, the driver said. A short time later she woke up and said she had a headache and didn't feel well. He gave her a bottle of water, but moments later she pulled her shirt up and vomited into her shirt, then fell back asleep and started snoring again, he told authorities.

They arrived at a home in Asbury Park, and Davila went in for a couple of minutes then returned, the driver said. He said he and Davila talked at that point about taking O'Connor to the hospital, and ultimately decided to take her to Community Medical Center.

When they arrived at the hospital, the driver went to get a wheelchair while Davila tried to get O'Connor out of the back seat. Davila dropped O'Connor on her butt as he tried to get her into the wheelchair, the driver said, then picked her up and put her in the wheelchair and wheeled her in.

The driver said he then left the hospital and went home.

Police asked to see his phone but he refused, so it was seized; a search warrant for the phone's real-time location data was granted but the affidavit does not indicate what information was recovered.

Blood on the ceiling

Authorities searched O'Connor's room on Nov. 3 and found blood on the ceiling and the floor of the living room, blood on the exterior of garbage bags that were in the kitchen, and blood on the doorframe of the bathroom and behind the bathroom sink, according to the affidavit.

They also found Davila's medical insurance card in a bag in a bin of what appeared to be men's clothing, the affidavit said.

Investigators swabbed 10 locations for possible blood, and seized the following:

A gray T-shirt cut down the front that was found in the living room; a white pillow with red staining that appeared to be blood, found on the living room couch; two knives that were under the mattress in the bedroom; two cell phones that were in a dresser drawer in the bedroom; a cell phone that was on the kitchen counter, and a BLU smartphone, according to the affidavit.

Finding Davila

It was not clear in the affidavit when or how Davila left the hospital. Authorities searched for him through ping data obtained with a warrant for Davila's phone number, according to the affidavit.

That data showed him as being in Lakewood, but the ping was to a somewhat general location, the affidavit said. Authorities learned Davila's brother lived in Brick and that Davila was there often, and the brother's address was near where Davila's location ping data showed him to be.

As detectives conducted surveillance at the brother's home, they saw four people come out and get in a tan GMC Yukon. The detectives pulled it over and searched it, and found Davila hiding in the trunk and arrested him on an outstanding warrant from Keansburg, the affidavit said.

Davila claimed to not know where his cellphone was, but a search of the Yukon turned up an iPhone believed to be his, authorities said.

He initially was held on the outstanding warrant before being charged with the domestic violence aggravated assault on Nov. 3; the murder charge was added Nov. 6 following the autopsy, the affidavit said.