Creato texted girlfriend, 'I care about you,' but also told her to accept his son
"D.J." Creato said he would do anything for his girlfriend, but also defended his son, whom he’s now charged with killing.
David "D.J." Creato Jr. told his girlfriend — who disliked spending time with his 3-year-old son, Brendan — that he loved her and would do anything for her.
"I care about you so f-ing much," Creato said in a text message to Julia Stensky, whom he met on the dating app Tinder in June 2015. "I'm willing to do anything."
Prosecutors on Tuesday read some of the 9,487 text messages Creato exchanged with Stensky to prove that Creato had motive to kill his son. Prosecutors have said Creato wanted to stop Stensky from leaving him.
But the messages also showed Creato repeatedly defending Brendan — and pushing back when Stensky demanded she be Creato's number-one priority.
"He's in my life and I will never leave him," Creato told Stensky about Brendan, adding, "If you don't accept him, you don't accept me."
Stensky, now 19, was at Pace University in New York when Brendan died and has not been charged.
In a Tumblr post she wrote about 10 weeks into her relationship with Creato, Stensky called Brendan a mistake and said he would force Creato to stay in New Jersey forever.
"I don't consider my son a mistake," Creato texted Stensky, though it's unclear if he was referring to the Tumblr post or something else.
"I never said you did," Stensky replied.
"Well, he's not," Creato said.
Stensky told Creato she didn't want to hear about Brendan or the boy's mother, Samantha Denoto. Creato and Denoto shared custody of Brendan but did not live together.
Stensky repeatedly asked Creato why he still talked to Denoto. Creato said he had to because of Brendan.
Creato also said he disapproved of Stensky's talking to other men at college.
"I'm not OK with you going to lunch with a guy," Creato texted Stensky at one point, telling her to "find a friend who's a girl."
The messages illustrated the highs and lows of Creato's relationship with Stensky. They said they loved each other and joked about running away and visiting Norway, but also regularly argued about their former partners and Brendan.
"When will he be out of your life. How long will I have to wait?" Stensky asked about Brendan in one text message.Creato didn't answer, instead changing the subject to a camping trip.
On Oct. 13, 2015, Creato called 911 and said he woke up and found around 6 a.m. that Brendan was gone.
Two police officers, following a dog that tracked Brendan's scent, found the boy's body slumped over a rock and partially submerged in a creek just before 9 a.m. The area in woods near Cooper Street and South Park Drive was three-quarters of a mile from Creato's apartment.
Creato, 23, was charged with murder three months later.
Tuesday was this week's only hearing in the case, because Judge John T. Kelley has to attend a judicial seminar. The trial resumes next week.