A West Allis couple has been charged by prosecutors after their 4-year-old son, Donte Campbell, was found unresponsive and covered in bruises last weekend and later pronounced dead at Children’s Wisconsin Hospital.
Devario Cruz, 29, faces six felony counts, including first-degree reckless homicide, repeated physical abuse of a child causing death, and chronic neglect of a child where the consequence is death. His girlfriend, Charlotte Kurek, 31, faces two counts of chronic child neglect, one of which resulted in death.
The boy’s twin sister also showed signs of abuse, according to criminal complaints filed Oct. 22.
An autopsy conducted on Campbell revealed significant amount of bruising and abrasions to the boy’s head, face, torso, back and extremities. It was determined Campbell died from multiple-blunt trauma.
If convicted on all charges, Cruz faces life in prison plus up to 147 additional years and $70,000 in fines.Kurek faces up to 66 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Bruising was ‘most extensive and severe’ paramedics had seen on a child
According to the criminal complaints:
West Allis police and firefighters responded to the parking lot at Dairy Queen, 10823 W. Greenfield Ave., shortly after 8 a.m. Oct. 18 after receiving a 911 call from Kurek stating her 4-year-old son was unresponsive.
First responders found Campbell, limp, pale and unresponsive in Kurek’s vehicle. Paramedics and a West Allis sergeant described the bruising as “the most extensive and severe” they had ever seen on a child. The sergeant noted at least 12 bruises alone were found on the boy from the forehead down to the jaw on both sides of Campbell’s face and that the child smelled overwhelmingly like urine.
A West Allis police officer subsequently learned children were left alone at their residence when a woman arrived at the address to pick up Kurek’s three kids. The officer knocked on the door, which was answered by three children.
Without prompt, one of the children said Campbell was dead after falling off the bunk bed, while another child told the officer a “big bang” occurred during the night and that Kurek and Kruz left with Campbell and one of the other children and locked them in a room.
The boy’s twin sister was later found at a friend’s home with a swollen eye, bruises and scratches. When an officer asked what happened, she said, “Daddy hurt me.”
Story changes from a fall down the stairs
During questioning, Kurek said the boy’s injuries occurred when she was walking upstairs with Campbell at 8 p.m. Oct. 17. He lost his footing and fell, causing all of the items on top of the stairs, including bikes and garbage bags, to fall on top of him, she said.
Kurek said Campbell cried but otherwise appeared normal and that the bruising was the result of the fall. After this incident, Kurek said Campbell did not eat dinner.
At 6 a.m. Oct. 18, Kurek said she woke up and found Campbell unresponsive in his bedroom covered in bruises and his clothes soaked in urine.
Kurek later told police she lied about Campbell falling down the stairs and said she did it out of fear of Cruz having two guns in the home, but denied Cruz had been abusive before. Kurek eventually broke down and said she failed Campbell.
‘I only used my hands,’ Cruz tells detectives
In a separate interview, Cruz told detectives on the morning of Oct. 18 he woke up to the smell of feces and checked on Campbell, who was unresponsive and blue in color. Either Cruz or Kurek called 911, he said.
He told police Campbell had fallen down the stairs the previous day. The boy was a little upset, but Cruz said he helped him get up and walk back upstairs.
Cruz said he went into the bedroom at 8 p.m. to kiss the twins goodnight and said each child had spoken to him before going to sleep.
When asked if he noticed any injuries to Campbell’s body on Oct. 18, Cruz said the child had bruises all over his body.
Cruz told authorities he didn’t remember striking the boy in the past two days, but estimated when he disciplined a child the strike could be “a 7 or 8″ on a scale of 1 to 10.
After Cruz was showed pictures of Campbell’s injuries, he began to breathe heavily and said, “I only used my hands.”
Interviews from Kurek’s children reveal a pattern of abuse
Forensic interviews with the couple’s children revealed what investigators described as a consistent pattern of abuse by Cruz and inaction by Kurek.
Four children from the home were interviewed Oct. 21 by the Milwaukee Child Advocacy Center. They told interviewers that Cruz regularly beat the twins, forced them to stand on Legos as punishment, threw them into walls and hit them with his hands, a slipper, a chair or a piece of wood. One child said Cruz once struck Campbell in the forehead with a piece of the twins’ bunk bed, causing him to bleed, while Kurek played loud music to drown out his cries.
The children said Kurek knew about the abuse and never intervened. One child told investigators that she tried to slide food under Campbell’s bedroom door the night before his death but never saw him come out. Another said Cruz locked the boy in closets and often left him hungry.
When interviewed, Campbell’s twin sister told investigators, “Dad killed DeDe,” referring to her brother. She also said, “My dad did that,” when asked about bruising on her face and back.
Adrienne Davis is a south suburban reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Got any tips or stories to share? Contact Adrienne at amdavis@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bruising called ‘most extensive and severe’ West Allis paramedics have seen on a child
Reporting by Adrienne Davis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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