Attorney Seeks Dismissal of Charges Against David Creato in Death of 3-Year-Old

Haddon Township, NJ -- The attorney representing David “DJ” Creato is seeking to have his client released from prison and charges against him dismissed due to the fact that Camden County’s medical examiner failed to report to the scene for five days after 3-year-old Brendan Link Creato’s body was discovered in October, philly.com reports.

Creato also allegedly wasn't read his rights or told he was a suspect in the murder investigation, according to the report.

Brendan Creato’s body was found in a wooded area off South Park Drive in Haddon Township around 9 a.m. on Oct. 13, three hours after his father reported him missing.

David Creato was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child in the child’s death nearly three months later.

Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah has used the phrase“homicidal violence of unknown etiology” by either smothering or drowning in describing the death.

The uncertainty can be attributed to the fact that Camden County Medical Examiner Dr. Gerald Feigin didn’t respond to the scene as soon as the body was discovered, as required by state law, according to the report.

The law states the examiner must report to any scene that includes any type of suspicious death, including violent deaths and deaths in which the cause isn’t immediately clear, among others.

The examiner is given authority over the scene to “fully investigate the essential facts concerning the medical causes of death and take the names and addresses of as many witnesses thereto as may be practicable to obtain,” as well as filing an evaluation of the scene and making it accessible to the county prosecutor.

His deputy or one of his assistants may also respond to the scene, but that didn’t happen either, according to the Philly Voice.

The law states it is the duty of the physician, law enforcement, or other person who is present to notify the medical examiner. It’s unclear why the medical examiner didn’t report to the scene, according to the report.

The body shouldn’t be removed until the medical examiner evaluates the scene. However, the body was allegedly removed from the scene not long after it was discovered in this case, according to the report.

The law is often ignored, but one expert told the Philly Voice it should never be ignored in the case of a pediatric homicide.

Medical examiners have ways to determine what may have caused a death at the scene that typical law enforcement doesn’t have access to, and experts told the paper the investigation should’ve begun at the scene, with the body still partially submerged in the water as it was found.

The grand jury was not aware of any of these facts, and attorney Richard Fuschino Jr. said the process has been unfair to his client in a court filing on Thursday, according to the report.

Furthermore, an expert told the Philly Voice the cause of death should’ve been listed as “unknown.”

In the weeks after Brendan Creato's body was found, Fuschino said David Creato wasn't a suspect.

David Creato has pleaded not guilty, but has remained in jail on $750,000 bail since his indictment.

The motive laid out involves his girlfriend, who has been vocal about the fact that she dislikes children. The prosecution says David Creato’s paranoia about losing her motivated him to kill his son.

His girlfriend said via Tumblr that she was concerned she might be a suspect in a “homicide investigation”in the weeks following the discovery.

Brendan Creato’s mother, Samantha Denoto, also lives in Haddon Township.