Woman drowns baby in hotel bathtub, then throws body in dumpster, Minnesota cops say
A Minnesota woman is accused of drowning her baby in a hotel bathtub and tossing his body in a dumpster, news outlets report.
Police met with Esperanza Rae Harding, 20, at a Bloomington hospital while following up on a missing child report on March 6, according to documents obtained by KMSP. Harding told police her child died at the hospital, the outlet reported, but investigators could find no record of the boy being there.
Later, Harding told officers that her baby had died days earlier, on Feb. 28, and that she drowned him in the bathtub of a hotel, KARE reported.
She said his crying was bothering her and she was “upset she could not enjoy her bath,” documents read, KMSP reported.
Harding also texted a man she was seeing, 18-year-old Edwin Trudeau, telling him what she had done, Bringmethenews.com reported, citing court documents. Authorities also said she took a photo of the child floating lifeless in the tub.
Trudeau “did not like her child,” she told investigators, the outlet reported.
According to documents, Trudeau came over to the hotel room and tried, unsuccessfully, to revive the boy using CPR, the station reported. They left the child on the bathroom floor, then went into another room to have sex, officials said.
After, documents said Harding covered up the body, put it inside a backpack and tossed it in a dumpster, KARE reported.
Despite his knowledge of what happened, authorities said Trudeau did not contact authorities and he is being charged as an accomplice, according to the station.
Harding is facing a charge of second-degree murder, KMSP reported.
Bloomington is a suburb of Minneapolis, roughly a 10-mile drive south of the city’s downtown.
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