Man kills three-year-old son to continue in relationship

Father and Son

A 22-year-old father has killed his three-year-old son, Brendan Creato, because he felt the child was an impediment to his relationship with a teenage girlfriend, prosecutors say.

ABC7NY news reports that those details came during the arraignment of David “D.J.” Creato Jr, the father of the boy last week.

“She repeatedly threatened to break up with the defendant, and he repeatedly begged her not to,” prosecutor Christine Shah said.

Brendan disappeared from his father’s home in the early hours of October 13, but was later found partially submerged in water in a wooded section of nearby Cooper River Park.

It’s a location that D.J. Creato allegedly told investigators was “spiritual” for him, and one he had been to some 30 times with his girlfriend, even taking a photo there.

Shah said on Tuesday investigators do not believe Brendan went to that area on his own. First, she said, Brendan’s socks were clean despite the muddy surroundings.

Brendan Creato

Second, she said, family members say Brendan was afraid of the dark, so it was unlikely he would have gone into the wooded area in the pre-dawn hours.

Third, Shah said, there were no signs of forced entry at the home and Brendan slept on a love seat just nine feet from his father’s bedroom door.

The prosecutor then launched into what it says is the timeline leading up to Brendan’s murder.

D.J. Creato began dating a 17-year-old girl in June of 2015, and the girl had a ‘dislike’ of children, prosecutors say. Still, the couple kept dating.

In September, the girl went away to college and, according to prosecutors, became upset that Creato had custody of his son every other weekend, limiting their time together.

The girl repeatedly threatened to break up with Creato, Shah said.

He is also charged with child endangerment and faces a possible life sentence if he’s convicted on the murder charge.