Krystal Straw told police officers she was alone with her two children in an East Hanover hotel the night of Aug. 12 and into the morning of Aug. 13, when she noticed that her toddler was having trouble breathing. She tried CPR and then rushed him to the hospital, she said.
The 3-year-old was pronounced dead shortly after 5 a.m. at Morristown Medical Center. Police said he was covered with bruises to his face, back, buttocks and legs.
But in the moments after her son's death, medical staff said, they overheard Straw ask her 5-year-old daughter to keep a secret.
"Don't tell anyone what happened," she allegedly told the youngster.
The words were not enough to keep the girl from revealing what she had witnessed that night, according to prosecutor's statements and court documents reviewed by the Daily Record.
The girl told police she and her brother were in the hotel room with Edwin Urbina, 27, whom she identified as her father, while her mother was at work, according to police documents.
She watched, she said, as Urbina used a slipper or a sandal to hit the boy across his body many times. She told police her brother died at the hotel, court records show. Urbina, she said, had beaten the boy several times before that incident as well.
A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Straw, 28, appeared before state Superior Court Judge Thomas Critchley last week, sobbing throughout the hearing as she pleaded for her release. Critchley ordered that she remain in jail pending the resolution of her case. She is facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child, hindering, and witness and evidence tampering.
Her attorney, Wayne Morse, said Straw is innocent.
"She's never been in trouble a day in her life. She's just trying to put food on the table for her kids," Morse said at last week's hearing. "In no way shape or form did Ms. Straw intend to do any harm to her 3-year-old son. She wasn't using drugs, she wasn't abusing her children and I think to some extent she's being vilified by the statements."
Prosecutors say that on Aug. 12, Straw left the children with Urbina at the Route 10 hotel and went to work at a nearby convenience store. When Straw arrived home the morning of Aug. 13, she made attempts to cover up the incident by removing boxes and bags from the hotel, Tara Wang, a Morris County assistant prosecutor, told the court last week.
Strawdrove Urbina to a residence in Morristown and then drove to the hospital later in a "feigned attempt" to seek medical treatment for her son, Wang said.
Cellphone records show that Urbina texted Straw and instructed her not to mention his name and to deny his involvement in the child's injuries, according to court documents. Straw allegedly deleted contact information on her phone and text message conversations between her and Urbina.
Critchley last week said that although it was not clear whether Straw was aware of the risks of putting her children in Urbina's care, she took critical missteps when she came home after the beating.
There was a "purposeful and substantial cover-up of the killing of her child," Critchley said.
The judge said he was concerned by Straw's alleged attempt to suppress her daughter's testimony and worried that if released, she would make additional efforts to influence the child.
The daughter is now under the care of the state's Department of Child Protection and Permanency and is residing with Straw's mother.
