New Jersey

New Jersey Girl, 11, Died of Stab Wound to Neck, Death Ruled Homicide: Medical Examiner

What to Know

  • Eleven-year-old Abbiegail Smith died from a stab wound to the neck, the medical examiner has ruled
  • Abbiegail's mother reported her missing from their Keansburg, New Jersey, apartment shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday
  • The girl had last been seen in the apartment around 7:45 p.m. that day; her body was found around 10:45 a.m. the next morning

The 11-year-old New Jersey girl whose body was found on a building roof hours after she vanished from her home died of a stab wound to the neck, the medical examiner said Monday. 

The medical examiner has also ruled Abbiegail Smith's death a homicide, confirming what investigators said last week. 

The girl was taking trash out to the dumpster at her Keansburg apartment complex when she vanished Wednesday night, authorities said last week. Her mother reported her missing an hour later.

The following morning, Abbiegail's body was found partially clothed and wrapped in a comforter on a roof behind the building where she lived, law enforcement sources tell News 4. The sources said her hands had been bound. 

An upstairs neighbor, 18-year-old Andreas Erazo, was arrested on murder and weapons charges in the killing. 

Erazo hung his head and said nothing during his first court appearance Friday afternoon. The girl's mother, a nurse, said to him at the end of the proceeding, "I hope you rot in jail. My one and only daughter. Rot in jail." 

Erazo is being held in jail without bail. He'll get another detention hearing next Wednesday. If convicted of murder, he faces a minimum of 30 years in prison without parole and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. 

Investigators questioned several people in Abbigeail's death before arresting Erazo. Another neighbor told News 4 he was suspicious about a building resident he saw talking to Smith Wednesday before she vanished. It's not clear if that man is Erazo.

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