A South Jersey father is accused of killing his son. What to know as the Creato case goes to trial
The timeline, the key figures: What to expect as David "D.J." Creato goes on trial, charged with his 3-year-old son's death.
The discovery of three-year-old Brendan Creato's pajama-clad body in woods near the Cooper River in 2015 stirred fear in the Camden County community of Haddon Township. Many questions remain as Brendan's father, David "D.J." Creato, who has been charged with the murder of his son, goes on trial. Here is what you should know.
Timeline of events
Oct. 13, 2015 — 6:07 a.m.
Oct. 13, 2015 — 8:43 a.m.
Oct. 13, 2015 — 9:26 a.m.
Oct. 13, 2015 — 10:17 a.m.
Oct. 13-16, 2015
Jan. 11, 2016
Jan. 12, 2016
May 16, 2016
Oct. 3, 2016
Fuschino requests more time to obtain a forensic expert's report, and the judge pushes the trial's start date to Jan. 9, 2017. It is then pushed again to April, when a judge tentatively grants the prosecution's request to have jurors visit the area where Brendan's body was found.
April 18, 2017
The jury selection process begins.
Christine Shah: The prosecutor. Shah joined the Camden County Prosecutor's Office in 1997, and often prosecutes the county's most heinous crimes. She successfully sought a life sentence in 2014 for Osvaldo Rivera, a Camden man who slashed a girl's throat on her 12th birthday and killed her 6-year-old brother.
Gerald Feigin: The medical examiner. He has testified in numerous murder trials in Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties. Feigin was unable to determine an exact cause of death for Brendan, but pointed to the boy’s clean socks as evidence somebody had placed him in the woods where his body was found.