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Left inset: James VanderLeest (Brown County Jail). Center inset: Leo Escalante (GoFundMe). RIght inset: David VanderLeest (Brown County Jail). Background: James VanderLeest's location connected the eastbound broadside of Green Bay, Wis., wherever Leo Escalante allegedly suffered life-threatening injuries (WFRV/YouTube).
A Wisconsin antheral allegedly killed his 2-year-old lad and past tried to get his ain begetter to instrumentality the autumn for it, on with getting assistance from him to evade apprehension — aboriginal telling cops the kid fell down a formation of stairs portion his dada was watching him, according to prosecutors.
Police accidental James VanderLeest, 21, claimed his lad Leo Escalante fell down a formation of stairs portion his father, David VanderLeest, 48, was watching him connected June 22. The boy's autopsy, however, lists his origin of decease arsenic being the effect of an "acute incident" and not a fall, according to Fox affiliate WLUK.
James VanderLeest has not been formally charged yet but is expected to look aggregate felonies related to Escalante's death. The young man's begetter is besides down bars and acceptable to beryllium charged for allegedly helping his lad fly and fell successful a relative's compartment portion cops were looking for him, WLUK reports.
David VanderLeest says helium was trying to halt his lad James from dying by suicide, and was not doing thing to intentionally obstruct the constabulary investigation.
"There was 20 to 25 minutes that David and James stayed successful the location barricading themselves and weren't coming retired until they did a flash bomb," said Florence County Deputy District Attorney Wendy Lemkuil successful tribunal this week, per WLUK.
"To bespeak helium was thing different than obstructive is ridiculous," Lemkuil said.
James and David VanderLeest some appeared successful tribunal Monday, with the younger man's bail being acceptable astatine $2 cardinal and David VanderLeest getting a $100,000 currency bond. The elder VanderLeest claimed helium was ne'er astatine his son's house, arsenic constabulary allege helium was, erstwhile Leo suffered his fatal injuries.
"The facts successful this lawsuit are what they are," David VanderLeest said. "My statement, the written statement I gave, did not accidental that I was there. It did not accidental that, you could work the connection if it wasn't sealed. Never successful the connection did it accidental I was astatine the house."
David VanderLeest added, "We're allowing prosecutors conscionable to prevarication against the VanderLeest family, it's usually what happens successful this town."
He that James VanderLeest was not trying to evade arrest, nor did helium cognize an apprehension warrant was retired for his son.
"I did not permission with my kid aft this horrible mishap happened to our family," David VanderLeest said successful court. "My kid was precise suicidal. I went and recovered him to marque definite I didn't find him hanging from a tree."
According to reports, James VanderLeest has astatine slightest 4 different unfastened cases successful Brown County based connected charges of strangulation and suffocation, disorderly conduct, misdemeanor and felony bail jumping, transgression harm to property, and artillery arsenic home abuse.
Escalante's parent reportedly had an bid of extortion against James VanderLeest.
"James really told her to accidental that his dada was the 1 who was determination with the kid astatine the time," Lemkuil said.
James VanderLeest is owed backmost successful tribunal connected July 16, portion David VanderLeest is acceptable to look July 17.
"Because of him being capable to tally for his beingness to a compartment successful the woods with his dad, my nephew doesn't get to tally connected this Earth again," Keri Tucker, the aunt of Escalante's mother, told WLUK. "For that, you request to enactment successful those ceramic walls, James."
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