Eric Santiago, 26, of Belleville, and Jonathan Tejada, 23, and Edgardo Mendez, 25, both of Newark, are charged with murder in Robert Hayes's death
NEWARK -- Three men have been indicted on a murder charge in the beating death of a college student in Newark last summer.
Eric Santiago, 26, of Belleville, and Jonathan Tejada, 23, and Edgardo Mendez, 25, both of Newark, were indicted on Jan. 15 in connection with the July 9 killing of 20-year-old Newark resident Robert Hayes.
Santiago and Tejada remain in custody at the Essex County Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 and $250,000 bail amounts, respectively. Mendez was released on Nov. 11 after posting $250,000 bail.
The three men are scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge on Monday before Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler.
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A student at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, Hayes was discovered naked, beaten and unresponsive by a passerby on the morning of July 9 near the intersection of Highland Avenue and Verona Avenue in Newark's North Ward.
Hayes was transported to University Hospital in Newark and pronounced dead later that day. Family members have said Hayes suffered a severe head trauma and was declared by doctors to be brain dead.
Authorities have not released details on the circumstances of the apparent beating or the motive behind it.
Jonathan Tejada, Eric Santiago and Edgardo Mendez, pictured left to right, have been charged with murder in the July 9 beating death of Robert Hayes in Newark. Tejada was arrested in July and Mendez was arrested in September. Santiago remained at large until December, when he was captured in Florida.
Hayes's father, Robert Carpenter, has said his son was majoring in national security studies at New Jersey City University and was scheduled to graduate in 2016. Carpenter said Hayes had dreams of becoming a federal law enforcement agent.
While pursuing that goal, Hayes worked as a concierge at luxury apartment buildings in Bayonne and Jersey City.
Carpenter has said Hayes was "such a good kid he made me a better man."
Melissa Cahir, a resident of one of the apartment buildings where Hayes worked, previously remembered him as having an infectious smile and a kind demeanor.
"I just can't believe he's gone, and that it happened that way," Cahir said.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.