Memorial to Westmont toddler taken down
HADDON TWP. - A tree that became a memorial to a slain Westmont toddler has been stripped bare of photos, cards and other decorations.
The shrine to 3-year-old Brendan Creato was removed over the weekend, just days before a jury is to be chosen for the murder trial of the child’s father.
David “D.J.” Creato, 23, is accused of killing Brendan, then dumping his body in a wooded park about a half-mile from their Haddon Township apartment in October 2015.
Jury selection for his trial is to begin Tuesday morning.
Photos: David "DJ" Creato's murder case begins
Background: Judge to let jury see where Brendan Creato's body found
More: 911 call released in Haddon Twp. case; listen here
Jurors are expected to visit the park during the trial, and the father’s attorney, Richard Fuschino Jr., last week expressed concern over the possible impact of the memorial on the jury.
By Sunday afternoon, happy images of Brendan’s short life — as well as stuffed animals, candles, ribbons and a small Christmas stocking — had been taken from the tree.
Multiple screws protruded from the bark where decorations had been removed.
Only a few plastic figurines — including a moose, a rhinoceros and a stegosaurus — lay half-buried in soil at the base of the tree off South Park Drive.
Superior Court Judge John Kelley on Wednesday tentatively approved a prosecution request to have jurors walk to the park from the boy’s former home at Virginia Avenue and Cooper Street.
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Kelley has said his final approval would be contingent on “logistics” of the visit.
At a pretrial hearing Wednesday afternoon, Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Christine Shah said the walk would disprove Creato’s claim that Brendan had wandered away from home in predawn hours. Investigators found no sign of forced entry at the apartment, where Brendan slept on a love seat near his father's bed.
Fuschino argued against the request. "I don't think it's particularly informative for the jury to go out and see the scene," he said.
Shah and Fuschino met with Kelley after the hearing to discuss details of the proposed walk.
Also over the weekend, workers removed a tree that had fallen near the stream where Brendan's body was found, said county spokesman Dan Keashen
"The Camden County Parks Department did clear a path for the jury to the scene," he said Monday. Keashen said the parks department was not involved in the memorial's removal.
It could not be immediately determined Monday who had removed the memorial, or what had happened to the tributes. The prosecutor's office and Fuschino did not respond to requests for comment.
Authorities contend Creato, who is being held on $750,000 bail, killed his son in an effort to preserve a relationship with a teenage girlfriend. He also is charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Creato’s 911 call on Oct. 13, 2015, sparked a massive search by police, firefighters and residents. A K-9 team found the boy's body a few hours after his father's call.
Shah has said the cause of death was “homicidal violence of undetermined etiology," or cause. That "diagnosis of exclusion" includes drowning, asphyxia and strangulation, according to the prosecutor.
Shah has argued the toddler "did not under any circumstances walk" to the park, noting his socks were clean and that family members have described Brendan as being afraid of the dark.
The weekend effort did not remove all signs of the tragedy from the park.
A bench installed in the boy’s memory in December remains near the former memorial tree. A plaque beneath the bench contains lyrics from a song about Peter Pan, one of Brendan’s favorite characters.
Close by, a Christmas wreath with a smiling snowman rests between the roots of a tree. And two floral crosses decorate a tree that rises above the stream where the boy's body was found.
Jim Walsh; (856) 486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com