Morristown Man Charged In Beating Death Of 3-Year-Old: Police

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Morris County law enforcement officials are searching for a Morristown man that they say beat a 3-year-old boy to death at an East Hanover hotel on Friday and then asked the boy's mother to remove information from her phone and lie to police if asked about his involvement in the incident, police said Monday.

Edwin Urbina, 27, remains a fugitive after police charged him with multiple crimes in connection with the boy's death. Police said Monday that the boy was Urbina's girlfriend's son and that he died early Friday morning at the Oyo Hotel, which is located at 130 Route 10 West in East Hanover.

Morristown Police responded to a call from the Morristown Medical Center regarding a boy who was in cardiac arrest shortly after 5 a.m. on Friday. The Morris County coroner conducted an autopsy and determined the boy's death to be a homicide after police said that the injuries were consistent with the boy being beat to death.

Police said Monday that the boy was beaten early Friday morning and that his mother, Krystal Straw, was not present when the beating reportedly took place. After arriving at the hotel, Straw took her son to the medical center, police said.

Police said that Urbina instructed Straw to remove content from her phone and told her to deny that Urbina had any involvement in the boy's death if police asked Straw about the incident.

Urbina has been charged by with first degree Murder, second degree endangering the welfare of children, third=degree tampering with a witness, and fourth-degree tampering with evidence.

Straw has also been charged in the incident. The 28-year-old has been charged with second- degree endangering the welfare of children, third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution, third-degree tampering with a witness, and fourth-degree tampering with evidence. She remains in the Morris County Correctional Facility pending a court appearance that is scheduled for Wednesday, police said.

Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to contact the East Hanover Police Department at 973-887-0432, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 973-285-6200, or Morris County Crime Stoppers at 800-743-7433. Anyone reporting any information may remain anonymous. Information on how to leave an anonymous call or text message can be found at the CrimeStoppers Program website at www.morriscrimestoppers.org.