Authorities reported that Lino Lakes, Minnesota, mother faces murder charges for allegedly drowning her son in a bathtub and then dumping the boy’s body in a dumpster at a hotel.
Esperanza Rae Harding, 20, was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in Hennepin County in the death of her son, although authorities have not located the body or indicated the child’s age.
Court records allege that on March 6, 2024, officers with the Minneapolis Police Department responded to reports of a call of a missing child at Children’s Hospital.
When officers arrived they spoke with Harding, who stated that her son died of natural causes in the hospital on March 1.
Hospital officials told police there was no record of the boy being admitted or dying at the hospital, while the Medical Examiner’s Office had no records of the victim, according to court documents cited by Fox News.
The police said that Harding finally admitted that her son died at a hotel in Bloomington on February 28, 2024.not in the hospital. She said the boy drowned in the bathtub, then wrapped the body and threw it in a dumpster.
During the interview, Harding told investigators that she was dating 18-year-old Edwin Trudeau, who did not like the boy. She even told him to give the child up for adoption to show that he was her top priority, according to court documents.
What happened the day of the crime?
On February 28, Harding was alone in a hotel room in Bloomington and was taking a bath when her son, who was in the other room, began crying. The woman was upset because she could not enjoy the bath, so she took the minor and drowned him in the bathtub.
Then took a photograph of the boy floating face down in the bathtub and sent text messages to Trudeau. All evidence has been recovered from Harding’s phone, according to police.
Police said Harding sent additional text messages in which she referred to herself as “a monster” for what she did, while asking Trudeau how to get her way.
Trudeau went to the hotel room once the child was dead, Harding told investigators, and After failing to revive him with CPR, the two had sex in the other room while the child’s motionless body was on the bathroom floor.
Subsequently, Harding wrapped the child, placed the body in a backpack and threw it in a dumpster at the hotel.
The body has not yet been recovered.
Trudeau was charged with murder and assisting a criminal after the fact.
Harding and Trudeau have been booked into the Hennepin County Jail.
The woman is being held on $1.5 million bail, while Trudeau is being held on $500,000 bail.
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