A Minnesota mother is accused of drowning her 7-month-old child after allegedly becoming angry that he had interrupted her bath, Fox 9 reports.
Authorities say that on February 28, Esperanza Rae Harding was taking a bath in a hotel room in Bloomington, near Minneapolis, when the infant began crying.
Court documents obtained by Bring Me The News describe what happened next:
The defendant admitted that she was upset that she could not enjoy her bath. According to the defendant, she then put Victim in the full bathtub and drowned him. The defendant took a photo of Victim floating face down in the full tub. The photo was recovered from her phone. She said she picked Victim up out of the water after he was “done moving, done twitching.”
Around this time, Harding allegedly texted Edwin Trudeau, whom she was dating, messages like “Im about to do something bad” and “He going to no be here much longer,” according to KSTP-TV.
Harding also referred to “herself as a monster for what she had done” in a text message to Trudeau and asked him how she could “get away with it,” according to Bring Me The News.
Trudeau, 18, came to the hotel room and attempted to give the baby CPR but was not successful. He and Harding then had sex while the baby was on the bathroom floor.
Afterward, Harding told police she put the baby’s body in a backpack and tossed the bag into a dumpster by the hotel. The baby’s body has not yet been found.
Police began investigating after Harding appeared at a hospital this week reporting that her child had died from natural causes, but officials had no record of the child or death.
Harding told police that Trudeau did not like the baby and he wanted her to give the baby up for adoption to show Trudeau that he was her priority, according to KSTP-TV.
The complaint alleges that Harding told police she believed she was “going to do time because she killed her own kid,” according to Hometown Source.
Prosecutors have charged Harding with one count of second-degree murder. If convicted, she faces up to 40 years in prison. Trudeau has been charged with one count of aiding an offender as an accomplice.
Harding’s bail was set at $1.5 million, while Trudeau’s bail is at $1 million without conditions or $500,000 with conditions. Both remain in custody in the Hennepin County Jail.
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[Feature Photo: Esperanza Rae Harding/Hennepin County Jail]
