Luis Rojas Cabrera, a 55-year-old unlicensed spa operator in the Bronx, has been charged with depraved indifference murder following the death of 27-year-old Elizabeth Baron, the NYPD announced on Tuesday. The charge was upgraded after the city’s medical examiner ruled Baron’s death a homicide in late September.
Baron died after receiving an injection of NAD+ at Rojas Cabrera's Bereshit Lifestyle Center on July 19, during which she reportedly went into cardiac arrest after being accidentally injected with air. Rojas Cabrera allegedly admitted to a police officer, 'I made a very big mistake,' according to court documents.
Previously, Rojas Cabrera faced charges of reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession while awaiting autopsy results to determine if the injection caused Baron’s death. Assistant District Attorney Ethan Reisbaum stated during Rojas Cabrera’s initial arraignment in July that administering NAD+ via IV requires a prescription from a licensed medical professional. Rojas Cabrera pleaded not guilty at that time.
The initial charges were not bail-eligible, allowing Rojas Cabrera to remain free since the arraignment. In a statement to the media last month, Rojas Cabrera claimed that the presence of air in Baron’s heart was due to manual CPR performed after she went into cardiac arrest, rather than the injection itself. He suggested that underlying health conditions may have contributed to her death, but the medical examiner's report indicated that Baron died from a cardiac air embolism without noting any underlying conditions.
NAD+ is a molecule promoted in health circles for its alleged anti-aging benefits, with some celebrities reportedly endorsing the treatment.