Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Text K to Kill, a documentary special, will air on ID on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. It will revolve around the murder of three-year-old Brendan Creato by his father, David Creato Jr., who reported him missing in October 2015.
In August 2017, David pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the death of his son, Brendan Creato, per Independent. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. David was required to serve at least 8 1/2 years behind bars before being eligible for parole, NBC Philadephia reported.
David admitted to suffocating Brendan, which killed the toddler in October 2015. This was before he called the police to report his son missing. The father told authorities that Brendan Creato might have wandered away from the Haddon Township home in Camden County. After a search was initiated, Brendan was found dead about a mile away from the house in a creek by the Cooper River. Police noticed that Brendan’s socks were fairly clean, making his chances of strolling to the place unlikely. As such, they suspected that someone put him there.
Experts conducted an autopsy and multiple medical examinations but failed to determine the cause of Brendan Creato’s death. CBS News reported that although it was evident that he died from “homicidal violence,” the exact cause of death remained “undetermined.”
Further examinations revealed that his brain was swollen, which was a possible reaction to a lack of oxygen. Death by suffocation then became probable. Moreover, Brendan had reportedly been treated for asthma since March 2015. A bite mark was also found inside the victim’s mouth during one of the examinations.
Why did David Creato Jr. kill his son Brendan Creato?
CBS News reported that text messages exchanged between David Creato Jr. and his then-girlfriend, Julie Stensky, played a crucial role in his conviction. The messages revealed that Julie didn’t like spending weekends with David in his Haddon Township home when he had Brendan to look after. She was a college student in New York City, and he allegedly feared that she would leave him. Several messages also revealed her asking him to choose between her and his son.
The couple had been dating since June 2015, and ABC 7 noted that David expressed jealousy on several occasions. He reportedly once logged into her social media accounts and posed as Julie online. He also asked a guy she was speaking with to stop contacting her.
According to People Magazine, David Creato Jr. claimed that some “spirits” might have led Brendan out of his home to the place where he was later found. He made the statement about a month after Brendan died in a conversation with Samantha Denoto, Brendan’s mother. She also recorded the conversation which was presented in court. In the statement, he claimed that the spot where the spirits led Brendan was likely a “sacred, spiritual spot.”
Text K to Kill will delve much deeper into the murder of Brendan Creato and what motivated it. The special will be aired on ID on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET.
