An Ocean Township man pleaded guilty Friday morning to discarding a dead body in Wall Township, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Edward Ramirez, 51, of Brick, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree disturbing or desecrating human remains, for his role in discarding the deceased body of Jamie Leis, 35. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ramirez faces five years in prison when he returns for sentencing on Oct. 25 at 1:30 p.m. before the Honorable Vincent N. Falcetano, Jr.

The charge stems from a joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Wall Township Police Department.

The case background …

On May 17, 2018, at 10:29 a.m., the Wall Township Police Department responded to the area of Brighton Avenue and Rockefeller Drive for a call reporting the discovery of a body wrapped in a tarp. 

Police later determined that the tarp contained the remains of Jamie Leis. The investigation led to discovery of video surveillance from a nearby house. 

That surveillance revealed that at approximately 2 a.m., a work style van stopped in the area of Rockefeller Drive and Brighton Avenue, before a male, later identified as Edward Ramirez exited the van, opened the rear doors and discarded Jami Leis’s body near the curb. 

Through the recovery of additional surveillance videos from that time period, police were able to determine where the van fled as well as its license plate.  Police were subsequently able to determine that Ramirez was the operator of that van.  Ramirez was arrested on June 5, 2018.