Creato pleads not guilty in son's killing

David "D.J." Creato Jr., the Haddon Township man accused of killing his 3-year-old son, Brendan, entered a plea of not guilty at a brief court hearing Monday, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said, and will have another status hearing in March.

Creato, 22, faces charges of murder and endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested Jan. 11, and remains in the Camden County Jail on a $750,000 bail.

Prosecutors have not offered a plea deal. Andy McNeil, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said he could not comment on whether they would, citing the ongoing case.

Authorities said Creato killed Brendan to stop his 17-year-old girlfriend, who disliked children, from leaving him.

Brendan's body was found Oct. 13 in woods near Cooper Street and South Park Drive, about three-quarters of a mile from his father's apartment. Creato had called 911 and reported Brendan missing three hours earlier, around 6 a.m.

Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah said during Creato's arraignment in January that Brendan died of "homicidal violence." She said an examination of Brendan's brain showed an abnormality consistent with oxygen deprivation that can be caused by asphyxiation, drowning, or strangulation.

She stopped short of saying conclusively what caused Brendan's death, however.

Creato's attorney, Richard J. Fuschino Jr., who could not be reached after Monday's hearing, has said the prosecution's version of events is improbable, and called the arrest of his client a "travesty."

Fuschino is reviewing evidence in the case. It includes 9,487 text messages Creato exchanged with his girlfriend after meeting her in June on the dating website Tinder. Shah said the girlfriend was away at college when Brendan was killed.

Creato's next hearing is scheduled for March 7 at 9 a.m. in front of Judge John T. Kelley.

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