The Murder of Brendan Creato

Written By Kiley Baumgartner

Warning, this case discusses the murder of a child.

For this case, I watched an episode of Caught in the Net. It’s season 1 episode 5, titled ‘No More Sunshine.’

The father of a 3-year-old boy calls 911 to report his son missing.

Background

Brendan Creato was born to mother, Samantha, and father, David Jr., who went by DJ. Samantha and DJ had met when they were young. Samantha became pregnant just after they graduated high school.

In 2014, Samantha discovered that DJ was cheating on her, and she ended the relationship. Samantha and DJ were still on good terms after the breakup, and co-parented. Brendan lived with Samantha most of the time, but spent time with DJ every other weekend.

Brendan was described as genuinely happy. He loved everyone around him, and had a large smile on his face at all times.

Brendan Creato

The 911 Call

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, DJ Creato called 911. He told the dispatcher that he woke up to find his 3-year-old son missing.

The police arrived at DJ’s apartment around 6:07am. DJ seemed genuinely upset, and told the police that he last saw Brendan the night before when he put him to bed.

There was no sign of forced entry, and nothing suspicious around the small apartment.

The Child Abduction and Response Team, a field communication unit, and a cadaver dog were all brought in to help search. The cadaver dog was given a red velvet Mickey Mouse slipper to smell for Brendan’s scent.

The cadaver dog led his partner, Connie Nicholson, from the Delaware River Port Authority K-9 unit, down a few streets to a wooded area. At the bottom of a hill was a creek. About 3 hours into the search, Brendan’s body was located.

He was found lying on his stomach in his pajamas. The police noticed that Brendan’s socks were clean, so he hadn’t just walked down to the creek. It was clear that he was probably placed there by someone.

DJ’s Story

The police now had to notify Samantha and DJ that their son was dead. The news of Brendan’s death really affected the police officers working the case.

When the police spoke to DJ, he jumped up, and screamed. He told the police that Brendan was his best friend.

When DJ was able to compose himself, the police asked him to go over the last 24 hours. DJ said he read Brendan three bedtime stories, as he usually did. He then said he tried to contact his girlfriend, who was 17, and attending school in New York. DJ said he went to bed at 10pm, and when he woke up the next morning, Brendan was gone.

The police were able to find a surveillance camera about 75 yards from where Brendan was found. However, there wasn’t anything useful on the footage.

The Girlfriend

The police asked DJ to hand over his phone, which he did.

DJ had been dating a 17-year-old named Julia ‘Julie’ Stensky. At first, the relationship seemed fine, but it soon changed. A lot of their arguments seemed to be about Brendan. Julie told DJ that she didn’t want to spend time with any kids. She was upset that DJ chose Brendan over her.

The police brought Julie in for questioning, and a court order was obtained for her phone call log.

The police asked Julie when she had last been in Haddon Township. Julie said she had been with DJ over the weekend, but left around 5:45am on October 12, to go back to school. Julie said DJ dropped her off at the Trenton, New Jersey train station, so that she could catch her train back to New York.

The police were able to pull the surveillance footage from the station. DJ dropped Julie off in a pickup truck around 6:48am. Julie then walks to her train, which takes off.

The police were able to rule Julie out as a suspect. They obtained her swipe log from her college dorm at Pace University. Julie was in New York on October 13. This doesn’t excuse the fact that she said some truly terrible things about a 3 year old boy.

DJ’s girlfriend, Julia

A Toxic Relationship

The police soon learned that DJ was obsessed with Julie, and very jealous of her spending time with people at school. He began to monitor her SnapChat and Facebook.

The police went through about 9,000 text messages between DJ and Julie. On October 6, DJ told Julie that he wanted to be with her that weekend. Julie said “well, we don’t always get what we want.” DJ told her that they could get what they want. Julie then said she didn’t want him to have a kid.

The police were able to recover 4,486 deleted messages from DJ’s phone. They knew that DJ was lying to them, and said that his reactions to things seemed rehearsed. When he was asked questions, he would volunteer information that didn’t seem relevant.

DJ told the police that he had gone to bed on October 12 around 10pm. However, he had actually been logged into Julie’s SnapChat until 1-1:30am. Julie had been talking to a male classmate, which pushed DJ over the edge.

On January 11, 2016, DJ Creato was arrested, and charged with first degree homicide and second degree child endangerment.

The Plea Deal

On January 12, 2016, DJ was arraigned. The trial began in April 2017.

The prosecution described DJ as a jealous and obsessive boyfriend. They said he killed Brendan in an effort to save his relationship with Julie. Julie didn’t want to be around Brendan, and was already moving on with a new classmate from school.

The prosecution suggested that DJ suffocated Brendan with a pillow. He then went to the creek, which he had taken a picture of two days before Brendan’s body was found. He then left Brendan in the water. Brendan’s cause of death was revealed to be homicidal violence of undetermined etiology.

On May 31, a mistrial was declared. The jury couldn’t come to an unanimous decision. Brendan’s family was told that if the 2nd trial ended the same way, then all the charges would be dropped.

On August 23, 2017, DJ Creato pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10 years, and is eligible for parole in 2024.

DJ’s family believe he is innocent.

DJ Creato

Kiley Baumgartner
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