Father and Son Held in Investigation Into Death of 2-Year-Old Boy Who 'Brought Everybody Joy'

A 21-year-old Wisconsin man and his father and being held in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy.

On June 22, two-year-old Leo Escalante’s mother was running an errand and came home to find her ex-boyfriend, James Vanderleest, performing CPR on the child, according to ABC affiliate WBAY. Vanderleest claims the boy was hurt when he fell down stairs. Escalante died days later.

“The injuries sustained by this two-year-old were not consistent with a fall down the stairs,” Brown County Deputy District Attorney Wendy Lemkuil said during a court hearing on Monday, June 30, per NBC affiliate WGBA. The outlet also reported that prosecutors allege James’ father, David, helped to hide and harbor him.

Lemkuil added that James allegedly encouraged the child’s mother to lie to officials about who was caring for Leo, the outlet reported.

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“Leo was just a happy little snuggly bunny, lover boy, always smiling. He had such a big laugh, average two-year-old into everything. He brought everybody joy,“ a relative, Keri Tucker, told WBAY before she addressed the court.

As she became emotional, she told the outlet, “Instant anger, sorrow, hurt. Everything was just so painful. Laying our baby to rest yesterday was one of the worst things in a long time that we’ve had to deal with, so I’m just hoping that this court system gets it right.”

David, James’ father, claimed he was caring for Escalante, not his son, on the evening the toddler was injured, officials said, per WBAY.

Fox affiliate WLUK reports James, who is not Escalante’s father, is facing other cases, some of which relate to domestic abuse. James and David allegedly fled to a Florence County cabin, where authorities arrested them in late June, per the outlet.

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“A lot of this is lies,” James told the court, per WGBA.

Tucker has since established a GoFundMe to raise money for the toddler’s headstone.

“Leo did not deserve to be taken from his family at the young age of 2,” she wrote on the fundraiser website.