A defense lawyer wants a murder charge thrown out against a New Jersey father accused of killing his 3-year-old son. Attorney Richard Fuschino Jr. said in motions filed Thursday that authorities failed to read David Creato Jr. his rights before interviewing him following the October death of Brendan Creato.
Creato voluntarily talked to investigators following his son's death, Fuschino said, and didn't realize he was a suspect.
Camden County Medical Examiner Gerald Feigin also took days to examine the Cooper River Park scene where Brendan's body was found, Fuschino alleges. Feigin hung up when the Philadelphia Inquirer reached him by phone Thursday evening.
Camden County prosecutors have said the boy was found less than a mile from Creato's apartment several hours after his father reported him missing from his Haddon Township home. The boy had suffered "homicidal violence'' akin to smothering or strangulation, though an autopsy and toxicology tests initially failed to determine an exact cause of death.
Prosecutors said Creato killed his son because the child was impeding his relationship with a teenage girlfriend. She resented Creato's dealings with the boy's mother, they said, with whom he shared custody. The 22-year-old Creato was indicted on charges including murder and endangering the welfare of a child. He has since pleaded not guilty and is jailed in the Camden County Jail on $750,000 bail.
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office didn't immediately return a request for comment.
