Creato pleaded guilty and gets 10-year term, but family says he didn't kill his 3-year-old son

Nearly two years after Brendan Creato disappeared from his South Jersey home, his father was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for killing the 3-year-old and dumping his body in the woods.

But how the toddler was killed remained a mystery, along with David "D.J." Creato's exact motive that October 2015 night. And while the 23-year-old pleaded guilty last month, family members insisted Friday he was innocent.

Creato showed no obvious emotion as he stood before Camden County Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley. In handcuffs, shackles, and a red prison jumpsuit, Creato declined the opportunity to speak before the judge imposed the sentence agreed upon in a plea deal.

When prosecutors showed a video montage of images of his son from birth to the end of his short life, Creato did not look at the screen. With the lights lowered in the hushed courtroom, photographs showed Brendan as a newborn, held closely in his mother's arms, sitting on steps with a pumpkin, and visiting with Santa Claus.

The video ended with a quote attributed to A.A. Milne: "If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever."

"Brendan was well cared for and loved by many," his maternal grandmother, Danielle Collins, said in a statement read by a prosecutor. "A day doesn't go by that I don't miss him. … I lost a piece of me that I will never get back, my angel in heaven that I long to reunite with one day."

The boy's pajama-clad body was found slumped over a rock in woods near the Cooper River in Haddon Township on Oct. 13, 2015, hours after Creato called 911 and reported him missing. The bottoms of the socks on his feet were clean, suggesting he had not walked there on his own, prosecutors pointed out.

No specific cause of death was determined. Three medical examiners ruled that Brendan died of  "homicidal violence" but could not determine whether he was drowned, strangled, or smothered. In court in August, Creato admitted that he "recklessly caused his son's death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life by depriving Brendan of oxygen."

From the moment Brendan disappeared and residents joined police in a frantic search, the case riveted the region. Prosecutors said Creato killed his son in a desperate attempt to prevent his girlfriend from leaving him because she disliked Creato's having a child from a previous relationship.

In a surprise move, Creato pleaded guilty last month to aggravated manslaughter, avoiding a second trial. His first trial in May ended in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a verdict. Ten jurors later said they believed he was guilty, while the remaining two said there was not enough evidence to convict him.

Outside the courthouse Friday, Creato's family members staunchly maintained his innocence and said they plan to hire a private investigator to find the real killer. Creato must serve at least 8 1/2 years before he will be eligible for release. With credit for the 627 days already spent in jail, he could be free in about six years, his attorney Richard J. Fuschino Jr. said.

"The wrong person is sitting in jail," David Creato Sr. told reporters. "Something happened to Brendan that night. He was stolen out of thin air. I won't stop until I find answers or I die."

Added Creato's paternal grandmother, Florence Creato, 78: "My grandson is not guilty."

Why did her grandson plead guilty? "Which would you rather," she said, "spend 10 years in jail or 30?"

During the trial, the defense argued that Creato was the victim of a flawed police investigation and that authorities had only circumstantial evidence. The defense suggested Brendan might have accidentally locked himself out of the apartment and wandered outdoors, where someone nefarious grabbed him.

Collins, in her statement, described Brendan as smart, charming, and loving, though stubborn.

"DJ, I hope that one day you are able to speak the truth about what happened on the evening of Oct. 13, 2015," Collins wrote.

Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Christine Shah made clear she believed authorities had charged the right person.

She asked the judge not to lessen the sentence, citing "all the things that Creato did," including hiding Brendan's body, lying to police and the boy's mother, and standing by while Haddon Township "conducted a desperate search for a child they all believed they would find."

During the brief proceeding, Brendan's mother, Samantha Denoto, appeared emotional as she sat a few rows from Creato. At times, she leaned on the shoulder of a family member. She left court without commenting.

Kelley said the plea agreement was "fair and in the interests of justice."

Creato's lawyer Fuschino said his client did not speak in court because "nothing he could have said would have changed the plea agreement."

Still, he said, "I don't think we are much closer [to knowing] what happened."

During the trial, prosecutors presented numerous text messages and other communications between Creato and girlfriend Julia Stensky in which she often expressed displeasure at Brendan's role in Creato's life. At one point, Stensky, who had left for college in New York, wrote online that the child was "a mistake" who would anchor Creato to New Jersey forever.

"I'm willing to do anything or change anything for you," Creato texted Stensky a week before Brendan died. The couple, who met on the dating app Tinder, exchanged more than 9,400 text messages, according to prosecutors. Stensky has not faced any charges.

Creato's 911 call followed a night during which he had argued with Stensky. Creato and the boy's mother, Denoto, shared custody but did not live together.

Creato was charged three months later.