According to prosecutors, a Wisconsin man allegedly killed his 2-year-old son and then attempted to have his own father take responsibility for it, as well as get help from him to avoid arrest — later telling cops that the child fell down a flight of stairs while his father was watching him.
According to police, James VanderLeest, 21, claimed his son Leo Escalante fell down a flight of stairs while his father, David VanderLeest, 48, was watching him on June 22. According to Fox affiliate WLUK, the boy’s autopsy revealed that his death was caused by a “acute incident” rather than a fall.
James VanderLeest has not yet been formally charged, but he is expected to face multiple felonies in connection with Escalante’s death.
The young man’s father is also in custody and is expected to face charges for allegedly assisting his son in fleeing and hiding in a relative’s cabin while cops were looking for him, according to WLUK.
David VanderLeest claims he was trying to prevent his son James from committing suicide and did not intend to obstruct the police investigation.
“There was 20 to 25 minutes that David and James stayed in the house barricading themselves and were not coming out until they did a flash bomb,” Florence County Deputy District Attorney Wendy Lemkuil told WLUK in court this week.
“To indicate he was anything other than obstructive is ridiculous,” she said.
James and David VanderLeest both appeared in court on Monday, with the younger man’s bail set at $2 million and David VanderLeest receiving a $100,000 cash bond. The elder VanderLeest denied that he was at his son’s house when Leo died, as police claim.
“The facts in this case are what they are,” David VanderLeest explained. “My statement, the written statement I provided, did not indicate that I was present.
It did not say that; you could read the statement if it was not sealed. The statement made no mention of my presence at the house.”
David VanderLeest disagreed: “We are allowing prosecutors just to lie against the VanderLeest family, it is normally what happens in this town.”
James VanderLeest was not attempting to evade arrest, nor was he aware that an arrest warrant had been issued for his son.
“I did not leave with my child after this horrible accident happened to our family,” David VanderLeest stated in court. “My child was extremely suicidal. I went to find him to ensure he was not hanging from a tree.”
According to reports, James VanderLeest is facing at least four additional charges in Brown County, including strangulation and suffocation, disorderly conduct, misdemeanour and felony bail jumping, criminal property damage, and battery as domestic abuse.
Escalante’s mother reportedly had a protection order against James VanderLeest.
“James actually told her to say that his dad was the one who was there with the child at the time,” Lemkuil told me.
James VanderLeest is due back in court on July 16, while David VanderLeest is scheduled to appear on July 17.
“Because of him being able to run for his life to a cabin in the woods with his dad, my nephew does not get to run on this Earth again,” Keri Tucker, Escalante’s mother’s aunt, told WLUK. “For that, you need to stay in those brick walls, James.”
