Creato preparing for a trial, attorney says

The attorney for David "D.J." Creato Jr., the Haddon Township man charged with killing his 3-year-old son, Brendan, on Monday requested additional time to review evidence, and said after a brief court hearing that they are preparing for a trial should the case come to that.

"We are going to aggressively defend Mr. Creato," Richard J. Fuschino Jr. said outside Superior Court in Camden. "He's presumed innocent of these charges, and we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that the people know it, and that everyone knows what his family knows, which is that he didn't commit this crime."

Creato, 22, was arrested Jan. 11 and charged with murder and endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors alleged that Creato killed Brendan to stop his 17-year-old girlfriend, who disliked children, from leaving him.

Creato appeared in court wearing a red jump suit, shackles, and glasses, with his hair in a ponytail. His father - Brendan's grandfather, also named David - sat in the second row. On the opposite side, Brendan's mother, Samantha Denoto, sat toward the back. She was not dating Creato at the time of Brendan's death.

Neither she nor David Creato Sr. spoke after the hearing.

Fuschino said he should be done reviewing evidence in the case soon. It includes more than 9,000 text messages between Creato and his girlfriend, who has been identified publicly as Julia Spensky. She was away at college when Brendan was killed, prosecutors said.

Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah said Monday an "incredible amount of data," including the text messages, had been turned over to the defense to review.

Fuschino said after the hearing, "We just want to make sure we go through everything methodically, and we're as prepared as we can be when and if this goes to trial."

Creato reported his son missing around 6 a.m. last Oct. 13, saying he woke up and Brendan was gone. A K-9 unit found Brendan's body in woods three-quarters of a mile away, near Cooper Street and South Park Drive.

Shah said 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.

Authorities were unable to determine an exact cause of death, however. Shah acknowledged at an arraignment Jan. 12 that the evidence was circumstantial, though she called it "quite compelling."

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 18. Creato remains in the Camden County Jail on $750,000 bail.

mboren@phillynews.com

856-779-3829 @borenmc