David Creato Admits Killing 3-Year-Old Son: Prosecutor

HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ — The Haddon Township man accused of killing his 3-year-old son nearly two years ago admitted his guilt in court, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Wednesday.

David Creato Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the death of his son, Brendan, which occurred in Haddon Township in 2015, according to the prosecutor’s office.

On Wednesday, Creato stated under oath that he “recklessly caused his son’s death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life by depriving Brendan of oxygen” on Oct. 13, 2015, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The 24-year-old Creato faces 10 years in state prison and will be required to serve at least eight years and six months of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 29. Creato has been in custody since his arrest and indictment on Jan. 12, 2016.

Brendan’s mother, Samantha Denoto, and other family members who attended the lengthy trial that ended in a mistrial on May 31 were present in court for the plea.

Creato had been charged with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. In the spring, a jury voted 10-2 in favor of finding Creato guilty on the first-degree murder charge. It never deliberated the child endangerment charge.

After the trial, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said it would re-prosecute the case. A start date of Sept. 11 had been announced for the new trial, prior to the announcement of Wednesday's plea deal.

Brendan Creato was last seen alive when his grandmother dropped him off at his father's apartment the evening of Oct. 12, 2015. The following morning, Creato called 911 to report his son missing at about 6 a.m. Brendan Creato's body was found about three hours later, near the Cooper River.

Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah, who was involved in putting together the plea deal along with Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Moran, contended that Creato killed his son because his then-girlfriend Julia Stensky didn't like children and was jealous of the relationship Creato had with his son. Stensky testified during trial that she was jealous of the relationship between Creato and his son but she never asked him to kill Brendan. The couple has since split up.

Creato remained insistent throughout the trial that he was innocent. At one point, he suggested to Denoto that a “spirit” might have summoned their son to the spot near the Cooper River in which his body was found.

Throughout the course of the trial, the prosecution made the case that the spot had special spiritual meaning to Creato, and cell phone records indicate he was there on Oct. 11, 2015. Shah claimed during the trial that Creato had taken Stensky there three or four times while they were dating.

Creato's defense attorney, Richard Fuschino Jr., countered by attempting to poke holes in the investigation. He attacked the credibility of the Camden County Medical Examiner. The cause of Brendan’s death was never entirely clear, with Shah using the phrase “homicidal violence of unknown etiology.”

Investigators believed the child was either smothered or drowned, and the uncertainty has been 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.

Feigin didn’t respond to the scene for several days. Fuschino attempted to have the case dismissed based on these circumstances. He even pointed to two cases in Massachusetts Feigin appeared to have mishandled and a recent case in South Jersey in which a woman’s hand was left behind at a crash scene.

However, the judge said that this wasn’t enough to have the case thrown out. Fuschino argued that the delay allowed the scene to become contaminated.

Feigin, Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Seibert and New Jersey State Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Falzon each conducted their own autopsy of the toddler’s body. During the trial, Falzon testified that he found injuries that may have been overlooked by both county medical examiners.

Falzon initially listed Brendan Creato's cause of death as undetermined. However, when he reviewed the evidence about a year and a half later, he changed his mind and concurred with Feigin and Seibert that the cause of death was homicide.

He said the child's clean socks and the lack of any shoes in the area near the Cooper River where Brendan Creato's body was found made the death seem suspicious.

Brendan Creato was wearing clean socks when his body was found. Investigators walked the same trail he would’ve had to have followed from his father’s apartment to the stream near which he was found with no shoes, and their socks were filthy when they were finished.

Shah claimed this discredited Creato’s claims that his son could’ve wandered off in the middle of the night. Family members also testified that Brendan Creato was afraid of the dark.

Falzon said that if any footwear had been found, or if Brendan Creato's body had been found at home, he would've stuck by his original call that the cause of death was undetermined.

Shah even had the jury visit the scene in which Brendan Creato’s body was found, although no media was permitted to report on that event.

When Fuschino suggested that Brendan Creato's body could've been moved, Falzon said there was no reasonable explanation for how his body ended up where it was found.

His case convinced two members of the jury, including the forewoman, who later told Philly Voice, “When the prosecution was done with its case, we still didn’t know who did this, where it happened, when it happened or even why it happened.”

There was also no DNA evidence that connected Creato to the crime. There were also no witnesses in a case that was built entirely on circumstantial evidence.

Those who found Creato guilty did so in part based on the fact that Creato said he was asleep from 10 p.m. on Oct. 12, 2015, until 6 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2015, despite evidence that showed he used his cell phone at about 1:30 a.m., according to Philly.com.

During deliberations, the jury — which consisted of nine women and three men — spent a lot of time watching videotape of Creato's interview at the Haddon Township Police Department.

During the course of the video, Creato repeatedly asked if there were any updates concerning the whereabouts of his son, whom he had reported missing around 6 a.m. When investigators finally told him his son was found dead, Creato paused before he said, "No, no, no, he was my best friend." Creato didn't testify during the trial.

As part of her closing statement concerning the video, Shah noted that Creato wasn’t habitually checking his cell phone during a time in which people were supposed to be looking for his son.

Shah suggested he wasn’t checking his phone because he knew his son wouldn’t be found alive. She also pointed out that prior to this, Creato compulsively checked his phone to keep tabs on Stensky, who was a student at Pace University in New York.

Creato had his cell phone with him while he was at police headquarters and was left alone for periods at a time. Even then, he didn’t check his phone, Shah pointed out. She also noted that he paused after he was told that his son was dead, saying she believed the pause was due to the fact that he already knew the toddler wasn't going to be found alive.

During the interview, police asked Creato about his relationship with his son, which he described as good. When officers asked him if he ever gets mad at the child, he responded by saying he does but not enough to hurt him.

The video was also shown at a status conference prior to the start of the trial. At that time, Fuschino opposed playing the video during the trial, arguing that investigators never told his client he was a suspect in the investigation and that he wasn’t Mirandized properly.

Kelley ruled that it was clear Creato was aware of his rights during the interview. Just before the trial began, Kelley approved Shah’s motion to have the video submitted as evidence.

The video was part of a 12-hour interview police conducted with Creato. Fuschino had pointed out that his client answered all the questions asked of him, but he also used the video to support his claim that the investigation was mishandled because detectives never considered any other suspects. He said investigators pegged Creato as the only suspect from the beginning of the case.

The lead investigator testified that wasn't true and that Creato wasn't a suspect until about two weeks later. Creato was arrested and indicted three months after the last time Brendan was seen alive.

Fuschino asked why investigators questioned only registered sex offenders in Haddon Township and not the surrounding area. The prosecution responded that there was no evidence that a sexual assault had occurred or even that anyone had broken into the apartment.

Photo: David Creato appears in court Thursday, May 4, during day seven of his trial in connection with the death of his 3-year-old son in Camden, New Jersey.(Joe Lambert/Camden Courier-Post via AP, Pool)