By Kim McDarison
Santos Asucena Caseres Cruz, a 39-year-old Whitewater woman accused of neglecting a child with a consequence of death, will be held over for trial, according to information released Friday on the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Website.
Caseres Cruz, along with her attorney Jeffrey De La Rosa, appeared Friday before Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge William F. Hue.
During the preliminary hearing, Whitewater Police Detective Anthony Heilberger testified and was examined and cross examined by both Caseres Cruz’s attorney and Jefferson County District Attorney Monica Hall.
According to the criminal complaint filed with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office on March 28, Heilberger, on March 3, attended an autopsy of the infant’s body performed by the Milwaukee Medical Examiner’s Office.
On March 23, Heilberger received photographs from the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, resulting in forensic imaging of a shipping label, which led detectives to Caseres Cruz.
Heilberger was among detectives present during an interview of Caseres Cruz prior to her arrest, the criminal complaint states. He also is identified in the criminal complaint as having interview at least one witness associated with the case.
After hearing arguments given by counsel, the court found probable cause to bind Caseres Cruz over for trial during which time she will face a Felony D count of neglecting a child with a consequence of death and a Felony F count of moving, hiding or burying a corpse of a child.
As defined by Wisconsin state statutes, a Class D felony carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison or a fine of up to $100,000. A Class F felony carries a maximum penalty of 12.5 years in prison or a fine up to $25,000.
Also during the preliminary hearing, the court set an arraignment date of June 15, with the defendant appearing in court at 2 p.m.
The court continued bond as previously set.
Appearing before Judge Hue via video conference on March 28, a cash bond of $10,000 was set with the conditions that the defendant surrender any passport, not leave Jefferson County, and report and comply with a GPS monitoring program administered by Wisconsin Community Services.
According to court documents, the defendant would be released from custody “on GPS monitoring only.”
Caseres Cruz was taken into custody by the Whitewater Police Department in March after which she was confined in the Jefferson County Jail.
According to information released by the Whitewater Police Department, charges of concealing death of a child and resisting or obstructing officers were forwarded to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office.
Charges filed against Caseres Cruz allege her involvement in the placement of a body, described by police as that of a newborn baby. The body was discovered by police on the morning of March 4, in a field behind the Twin Oaks Mobile Home Park on Tratt Street, in Whitewater.
The Whitewater Police Department, offering information in March, noted that the body was male, and discovered in a plastic bag, inside a cardboard box. The body was wrapped in a light-colored shirt.
According to the criminal complaint, Caseres Cruz is alleged to have given birth to the baby at home in a bathtub. The complaint further alleges that Caseres Cruz was of the belief that the baby, when born, was not breathing, and she therefore believed it was dead.
Police indicated, within the complaint, that her statement was “modified,” alleging that the defendant had earlier said that she knew the baby was alive when he was born, but was possibly choking.
After the baby was born, he started “getting purple,” the defendant told police, according to the complaint. As the night went on, the complaint continued, the baby’s arms and hands also turned purple.
According to the complaint, the defendant told police that she did not call 911 because she was scared her children would find out that she had been pregnant.
The complaint states: “The defendant said approximately half an hour after she gave birth and set the baby under the sink in the plastic bag, her other children were asleep and quiet. She retrieved the baby from inside the cabinet, wrapped the baby in a pink sweatshirt and put the baby inside a cardboard box. She placed the box on her bed and cried all night.”
At approximately 4:30 a.m., the complaint reported, the defendant removed the baby from the bag, cut the umbilical cord to separate the baby from the placenta and placed the baby in a black garbage bag. At approximately 5 a.m., she drove to the field near the Tratt Street Twin Oaks Mobil Home Park and left the baby behind.
“She said she checked on the box every day and cried,” according to the complaint.
A candlelight vigil in the baby’s memory was held by members of the Whitewater community in March.
The baby, who came to be called “Baby Oak,” was buried in April in Whitewater’s Hillside Cemetery, according to police.
The full criminal complaint alleging charges against Caseres Cruz is here: http://fortatkinsononline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Complaint-Criminal_2-Caseres-Cruz-Santos-Asucena-2023CF000114-Caseres-Cruz-Santos-Asucena_3049727_1.pdf.
An earlier story detailing the arrest of Caseres Cruz is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-woman-charged-with-neglecting-a-child-resulting-in-death/.
An earlier story about the candlelight vigil held in the baby’s memory is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/sixty-attendees-hold-candlelight-vigil-to-mourn-babys-death/.
File photo.
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