Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – A Minnesota mother is accused of drowning her baby in a bathtub before taking a photo of the child's body and sending it to her boyfriend.
Esperanza Rae Harding, 20, has been charged with
second-degree murder in connection with the death of her son, according to CBS
News, citing the criminal complaint.
According to the complaint, Harding showed up at Children’s
Hospital in Minneapolis on March 6, saying her son died of natural causes at
the hospital five days earlier. However, there was no record of the child being
there.
Police interviewed Harding, who allegedly confessed to
drowning the boy in a hotel bathtub in Bloomington on Feb. 28. After she
drowned him, she allegedly put his body inside a backpack and then tossed his
body in the trash, the complaint states.
She allegedly said she drowned the boy because she was
dating a man who didn’t like him and wanted her to place him for adoption,
according to the complaint.
Harding allegedly wanted to place the child for adoption to
prove to the boyfriend that he, and not her baby, was her top priority.
Harding told police she became upset when her son began
crying while she was attempting to take a bath, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Harding allegedly sent a text to
her boyfriend, Edwin Trudeau, stating: “I'm about to do something bad, Please
answer me, He going to not be here much longer.”
Police also allegedly discovered a photo on her phone of the
boy submerged facedown in the bathtub, according to the complaint.
“He was really happy. He enjoyed life,” the boy’s father,
Jesús Cazares, said. “He was always laughing, just joking.”
“Right now I have more anger than sadness,” Cazares added.
The boy’s body has yet to be found.
“I don’t want anything else other than just to find my son
and give him the peace he needs,” Cazares said.
Trudeau has been charged with one count of aiding an
offender by being an accomplice after the fact.
Harding has been charged with second-degree murder.
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