A 20-year-old mother from Minnesota, Esperanza Rae Harding, is facing charges of second-degree murder for allegedly drowning her baby in a bathtub and then sending a photo of the child’s body to her boyfriend.
According to CBS News, citing the criminal complaint, Harding has been charged in connection with the death of her son. The complaint details that Harding arrived at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis on March 6, claiming her son had died of natural causes at the hospital five days prior. However, there was no record of the child being admitted there.
During police interviews, Harding reportedly confessed to drowning the boy in a hotel bathtub in Bloomington on Feb. 28. After the drowning, she allegedly placed his body inside a backpack and disposed of it in the trash, as stated in the complaint.
Allegedly, Harding explained that she drowned her son because she was in a relationship with a man who disliked the child and wanted her to put him up for adoption. Her motive, as detailed in the complaint, was to prove to her boyfriend that he, and not her baby, was her top priority.
Harding told authorities that she became upset when her son started crying while she was attempting to take a bath, according to the complaint.
Further detailed in the complaint, Harding allegedly sent a text message to her boyfriend, Edwin Trudeau, which read: “I’m about to do something bad, Please answer me, He going to not be here much longer.”
