Inset left: Dante Campbell (GoFundMe). Inset middle: Charlotte Kurek (Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office). Inset right: Devario Cruz (Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office). Background: West Allis police officers investigate after a child is found unresponsive outside of a Dairy Queen in West Allis, Wisconsin (WTMJ/YouTube).
A Wisconsin mother who played loud music to drown out her 4-year-old son's cries instead of protecting him while his father allegedly beat him has admitted to her role in the boy's death.
Charlotte Kurek, 31, pleaded guilty to child neglect with death and chronic child neglect in the death of young Dante Campbell, court records show. She's scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29.
Kurek's boyfriend and Dante's father, Devario Cruz, is still facing charges of first-degree reckless homicide, repeated acts of physical abuse of a child causing death, and repeated physical abuse of a child causing bodily harm, along with neglect charges. His next court date is set for Sept. 11.
The criminal complaints for the two suspects allege a grisly case of abuse. As one law enforcement officer cited in the court documents states, "This was the most extensive and severe injuries that I have witnessed on a child."
Cruz woke up in West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb, around 7 a.m. on Oct. 18 and went into Dante's and his twin sister's bedroom. Dante was "stiff," and when his father picked him up, he said he looked "unreal." Cruz reported that the boy had fallen down a flight of stairs the previous evening, noting that the child "smelled bad," per WITI.
The child was "blue" and let out a final gasp as Cruz picked him up, the affidavit states.
Cruz told Kurek, "I don't think [the victim] is alive, I think he is dead," according to authorities. Kurek is said to have begun screaming and said they needed to go to a hospital, but neither adult called 911.
As Law&Crime previously reported, after 8 a.m., Cruz and Kurek drove to a friend of Kurek's — leaving three children "home alone" — and dropped off the twin girl. They kept Dante in the car, and Kurek finally called 911. Because they were near a West Allis Fire Department station, the 911 operator asked them to pull over so help could come to them.
As they waited for first responders, Cruz allegedly said, "I killed my kid, I want to kill myself."
The couple drove into the parking lot of a nearby Dairy Queen, where emergency personnel and then police arrived. Dante was found "stiff," and his gums were "bone white," indicating to police that he had been without oxygen for some time.
He was brought to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators found "substantial bruising" on the child's body, and his clothes reeked of urine, according to court documents.
Kurek told investigators that Dante fell down the stairs of their home, with bikes and other items tumbling on top of him. But officers were skeptical, not believing that his injuries matched such a sequence of events.
She later admitted that she lied "out of fear for her own safety," authorities said, "despite earlier denying any previous domestic violence" by Cruz. She also allegedly made a startling comment: "My son looked like he got his a— beat by a grown man."
Kurek would also allegedly admit that Cruz was "heavy-handed" but believed she had "addressed the issue" with him. Despite the alleged abuse, she never called police to report her boyfriend. Instead, she would crank up the music to drown out Dante's cries for help, police said.
"Defendant Kurek watched Defendant Cruz abuse the twins and did not call the police or threaten Defendant Cruz in order to try and get Defendant Cruz to stop," cops wrote. "It appeared as Defendant Kurek cared more for Defendant Cruz than the twins."
Dante had been in the care of other family members until shortly before his death, when he was returned to his parents' care, local NBC affiliate WTMJ reported.
Child Protective Services knew the parents, with Kurek having a CPS worker in her phone as "CPS b—."
A former neighbor of the couple claimed that there was a pattern of abuse. The parents would leave their twins "home alone" during the night, and the young kids would cry out for their parents, according to the criminal complaints. There were guns in the home, and Cruz was also believed to be selling marijuana from his car parked outside the residence.
Kurek and Cruz lived at home with the twins as well as three children from Kurek's previous relationship who would spend alternating weekends there.
Dante's twin sister was also interviewed — and seen with her own injuries. She had a bandage over her right eye, and when an officer asked her what happened, she responded, "Daddy hurt me." Her eye appeared to be swollen and she had several scratches on her face, as well as bruises throughout her body.
In the hallway of the home, investigators found "children's shoes with a red substance on one of the shoes that appeared consistent with blood," per the court documents. Investigators also found more than a pound of marijuana in the home.
Detectives believe Cruz beat his son the day before he and Kurek called 911. When they asked the father how hard he had hit Dante, "on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the hardest Defendant Cruz could possibly strike another human being, Defendant Cruz admitted that it was 'a 7 or 8,'" the affidavit stated.
When shown the photos of Dante's injuries, he began to breathe heavily, authorities said, and stated, "I only used my hands."
A GoFundMe for Dante said, "he was taken from us over this last weekend by the very people that were supposed to keep him safe in what we can only compare to a true crime documentary."
"Dante was a happy and loving boy that deserved so much better than what happened to him," the remembrance said. "He loved life and had the most amazing smile and laugh. His memory will forever live on with those of us who truly loved and cared for him."
Conrad Hoyt contributed to this report