A Minnesota mother, Esperanza Rae Harding, 20 years old, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of her son. According to court documents, Rae Harding drowned her baby in a bathtub. Afterward, she took a photo of the child’s body and sent it to her boyfriend.
It all started when authorities arrived at a Minneapolis Children’s Hospital to respond to a report of a missing child. According to the complaint, Rae Harding showed up at the Hospital on March 6, 2024, asking for her child.
Court documents state that the woman claimed her son died of natural causes at the hospital five days earlier. However, there was no record of the child being there. Consequently, police interviewed Rae Harding, who allegedly confessed to drowning the boy in a hotel bathtub in Bloomington on February 28, 2024.
After she drowned him, she allegedly put his body inside a backpack and then tossed his body in the trash.
Rae Harding’s Reasons for Drowning Her Child
According to police records, the woman allegedly said she drowned the boy because of her boyfriend, Edwin Trudeau. Authorities claim Trudeau didn’t like the boy and wanted her to place him up for adoption.
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Rae Harding agreed to the idea to prove to the boyfriend that he, and not her baby, was her top priority. However, she reportedly told authorities she became upset when her son began crying while she was attempting to take a bath, and then she drowned him.
Is Rae Harding’s Boyfriend an Accomplice to the Crime?
Yes, he is. According to the complaint, Rae Harding allegedly texted her boyfriend, Trudeau. In the text, she wrote, “I’m about to do something bad; please answer me; he is not going to be here much longer.”
Also, police discovered a photo on her phone of the boy submerged facedown in the bathtub. The complaint states that Rae Harding only took her son out of the water after he was “done moving, done twitching.”
According to the texts discovered on her phone, Rae Harding attempted CPR on her son. However, Trudeau told her to stop and texted, “Just stop trying.” He followed that up by texting, “It’s ok, ima help.” The boyfriend added, “You’re making things harder; we are a team. We do this.”
Rae Harding’s Confession
The officers revealed that in the follow-up messages from Rae Harding to Trudeau, she referred to herself as a monster. Also, she pleaded for advice on how to get away with it. She stated that her boyfriend came to the hotel room after the boy had died and attempted CPR. They then “had sex in the other room while the child lay dead on the bathroom floor,” the complaint states.
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Rae Harding added that she knew she’d be in prison “because she killed her kid. While the child’s body has not yet been found, the mother and her boyfriend are currently in police custody. Police charged Trudeau with aiding an offender.
How the Child’s Father Felt
“He was really happy; he enjoyed life,” said the boy’s father, Jesús Cazares. “He was always laughing, just joking.” Cazares added, “Right now, I have more anger than sadness.” Speaking on the search for the young boy, the father noted that he wants nothing more than to find his baby.
“I don’t want anything other than just to find my son and give him the peace he needs,” Cazares said. It’s unclear whether either suspect has retained an attorney or entered pleas to the charges against them.
A Comparable Murder Case
Like Rae Harding, a woman allegedly fatally poisoned her boyfriend’s 18-month-old daughter. According to police records, the woman fed her batteries, screws, and nail polish remover after researching the harmful effects they have on children.
Aleisia Owens, 20, was arrested on Thursday, January 11, 2024, for the suspected homicide of Iris Rita Alfera. Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that an autopsy determined the child died due to fatal levels of acetone in her blood.
Owens had been living with the child’s father, Bailey Jacoby, when he left the house to go to the store on June 25, 2023. Jacoby, who had visitation rights with Iris, then received a call from Owens that something was wrong with his daughter.
He rushed to the New Castle home to find his baby girl unresponsive and quickly called the authorities, according to the criminal complaint. Unfortunately, the toddler died four days later due to organ failure.
Afterward, the alleged child-killer appeared in front of Judge Richard A. Russo to be read her charges, where she sat “dry-eyed and expressionless,” as reported.
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