DA: Unlicensed practitioner indicted for murder after fatal IV injection of Riverdale woman

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Oct. 7 that Luis Rojas Cabrera was indicted for murder and other related charges after allegedly administering an IV injection July 19 to Riverdale resident Elizabeth Baron, 27, who died about an hour later. 

He was arraigned Oct. 6 on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, first-degree reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice, according to the district attorney’s office.  

Police said Rojas Cabrera was arrested at 8 a.m. Oct. 6 and charged with depraved indifference murder, a form of second-degree murder under state law. He was originally arrested July 19 and charged with reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of profession. Rojas Cabrera was previously released without bail while authorities awaited autopsy results, the district attorney’s office said in July. 

Authorities said Rojas Cabrera is 56 and lives in Passaic, New Jersey. He worked at Bereshit Lifestyle Center at 3190 Riverdale Avenue, the district attorney’s office said. According to authorities, Rojas Cabrera gave Baron an injection of  NAD+ in July despite not being licensed to practice medicine in New York. 

NAD+ is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, a molecule found in the body’s cells that helps turn food into energy, repairs DNA and supports metabolism, according to nonprofit academic medical center Cleveland Clinic. NAD+ levels decline with age, the clinic said. 

Baron became unconscious after the injection and was taken to the hospital, the district attorney’s office said. She was pronounced dead about an hour after the IV was administered, and the city’s chief medical examiner determined the cause of death to be cardiac air embolism due to air in the IV catheter inserted into Baron, according to the district attorney’s office. . 

The district attorney’s office also said investigators found two additional individuals who received injections from Rojas Cabrera. 

According to the criminal complaint, Rojas Cabrera said he called 911 immediately after Baron passed out. He said that he was a doctor in the Dominican Republic, and had a physician assistant license in Puerto Rico, but was not licensed in New York, the complaint states. His application was pending, and he only had an esthetician license, according to the complaint.

“I made a very big mistake,” Cabrera said, according to the complaint. “I need to call my family because I have a feeling I will not be home for a while.”

Bereshit Lifestyle Center’s website states Rojas Cabrera is a doctor of medicine, a surgeon and a naturopath, which is a doctor that focuses on lifestyle changes and natural remedies.

Rojas Cabrera’s bail was set at $2 million cash, $7 million bond, or $7 million partially secured bond, according to the district attorney’s office. He is due back in court Oct. 27. 

Cabrera was previously represented by nonprofit Bronx Defenders, which told The Press it no longer represents him. He is now represented by Donald Vogelman. 

Vogelman told The Press that in order to prove depraved indifference murder, the prosecution has to prove the defendant didn’t care if the patient lived or died. Rojas Cabrera called 911 and gave Baron CPR, Vogelman said, proving he did care, and Baron’s death was an unfortunate accident. He also said that Rojas Cabrera turned himself in on the morning of Oct. 6. Vogelman declined to comment on the unauthorized practice charge.