Inset (left): Joseph Eslinger (Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office). Inset (right): Leo Eslinger (Facebook). Background: Manning Family Children's hospital in New Orleans, La. (Google Maps).
The father of a little boy who died of starvation and injuries in Louisiana was sentenced to decades in prison.
Joseph Eslinger, 29, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after initially being charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his 5-year-old son Leonardo "Leo" Eslinger. According to reporting by local news outlet The Advocate, police responded to a call from Eslinger's home in Albany, Louisiana, on Dec. 28, 2023, about a child who was not breathing. Inside, Leo was found unresponsive and airlifted to New Orleans Children's Hospital, now known as Manning Family Children's.
Leo died three days later on New Year's Eve.
An autopsy revealed that Leo had been malnourished at the time of his death. He had bruises and lacerations all over his body and face, and he had multiple brain bleeds.
When detectives arrested and questioned Eslinger about Leo's death, he said the little boy had been sick and refused to talk or eat anything in the days leading up to when he was found unresponsive. Eslinger claimed that Leo was "mentally manifesting these symptoms and he wasn't really sick," according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Advocate. This belief was the reason Eslinger never sought medical attention for his son.
Police said Eslinger did not act alone. Eslinger's girlfriend at the time, 29-year-old Diana Lopez, also allegedly took part in abusing Leo. Prosecutors said Eslinger and Lopez singled Leo out and treated him differently from his two younger siblings. Lopez is charged with first-degree murder in connection with Leo's death and is scheduled to appear in court in November.
According to reporting by Evansville, Indiana-based NBC affiliate WFIE, Eslinger moved to Louisiana from Indiana in 2023 after Leo's mother was arrested for burglary and criminal mischief. In March 2023, Eslinger and Leo's mother filed for divorce and Eslinger got custody of all three of their children.
Leo's great-aunt, Kristi Held, told WFIE that she also filed for custody of the three children because Eslinger had already been accused of harming Leo. She said reports she made to authorities, which were corroborated by first responders who treated Leo for injuries, could not be substantiated.
Held told WFIE, "Why didn't they listen to us? Why didn't they believe us? This poor baby, why is he having to suffer because other people didn't take this seriously?"
Eslinger was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
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