Court records say witnesses described repeated abuse inside the home and accused Charlotte Kurek of failing to stop it.
WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Before Charlotte Kurek pleaded guilty in the death of her 4-year-old son, investigators built much of the neglect case against her from the accounts of children who described what they said had happened inside the family’s home when adults thought no one would intervene.
Kurek has now admitted guilt to child neglect resulting in death and chronic child neglect in the case involving Dante Campbell. She is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 29. Her boyfriend, Devario Cruz, who is Dante’s father, faces separate allegations that he repeatedly physically abused the boy and his twin sister and caused Dante’s death. Cruz is charged with first-degree reckless homicide and other felonies but has not been convicted.
The children’s statements gave investigators a view of the household that differed sharply from the explanation first offered after Dante was found unresponsive Oct. 18, 2025. According to the criminal complaint against Cruz, one child told a forensic interviewer that she had seen Cruz strike Dante and his twin sister on multiple occasions. The witness also said Dante called out for his mother during some of the alleged abuse. Instead of stopping Cruz, the child said, Kurek sometimes responded to Dante’s crying by playing music loudly enough to cover the sound.
Another part of the forensic interviews concerned isolation inside the home. A child told investigators she had tried to get food to Dante because she believed he was hungry and had not seen him eat. She described seeing him remain inside a room for long periods. The same witness reported recurring violence toward both twins and said Cruz threatened children against telling others. Prosecutors incorporated those accounts into a complaint alleging that the abuse was repeated rather than limited to the night before Dante’s death.
Dante’s twin sister was also interviewed after his death. Court records say she had a swollen or injured eye along with scratches and bruises. During the recorded interview, she accused Cruz of hurting her and described being struck. Investigators treated the girl’s physical condition and statements as evidence supporting additional charges against Cruz for repeated child abuse and chronic neglect. Her allegations also broadened the case from a death investigation involving one child into an examination of the treatment of multiple children in the household.
Kurek’s guilty plea is important because prosecutors’ case against her did not depend on proving that she inflicted the injuries herself. Authorities alleged that she knew Cruz was harsh and violent with the children but repeatedly failed to protect them. Court records and local reporting say Kurek described Cruz as heavy-handed. Witness accounts went further by placing her near alleged incidents and accusing her of taking steps to avoid hearing the children’s cries rather than seeking help. Her plea means she has accepted legal responsibility for the neglect charges.
The household included more children than the twins. According to the complaint, Kurek and Cruz lived with Dante and his twin sister while Kurek’s three older children from a previous relationship spent alternating weekends there. That arrangement gave investigators several potential witnesses to conditions inside the residence. After Dante died, detectives conducted forensic interviews designed to obtain accounts from the children without relying solely on statements from the accused adults.
Those interviews became especially significant because the initial story given to police centered on an accident. Kurek first said Dante had fallen down a flight of stairs on the night of Oct. 17 and that bicycles and garbage bags fell with him. She said he cried afterward but otherwise appeared normal. Prosecutors later said Kurek and Cruz had not told the truth about how Dante received his injuries. First responders told investigators that the extensive bruising they observed did not fit the reported fall.
The next morning introduced another set of decisions examined by police. Court documents say Cruz discovered Dante unresponsive in the bedroom at about 7 a.m. and told Kurek he believed the child was dead. Kurek reportedly said they needed to get him to a hospital. The adults did not immediately call 911. They drove the twins to the home of a friend and left Dante’s sister there before Kurek contacted emergency dispatchers. Three other children were allegedly left at home during that trip.
Emergency dispatchers directed the adults to meet responders at a Dairy Queen on West Greenfield Avenue. Police and firefighters reached the parking lot shortly after 8 a.m. and found Dante unresponsive. The criminal complaint says officers documented extensive bruising and a strong urine odor from his clothing. Paramedics attempted lifesaving measures and transported him to Children’s Wisconsin. He was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.
The observations by first responders reinforced investigators’ decision to look beyond the staircase explanation. One officer with 14 years of law enforcement experience described Dante’s injuries in the complaint as the most severe he had seen on a child. Other responders were also described as emotionally affected. Authorities said injuries were visible on numerous parts of Dante’s body. Public reporting has repeated some of those details, but the central evidentiary point was that police believed the pattern was inconsistent with an isolated accidental fall.
Investigators then developed statements from Cruz himself. According to the complaint, Cruz ultimately acknowledged striking Dante and discussed the degree of force he used. When detectives showed him photographs of the child’s condition, he said he had used his hands. Prosecutors have characterized his statements as minimizing his alleged conduct. The criminal charges accuse Cruz of repeated acts of physical abuse causing death rather than a single strike or isolated disciplinary episode.
Authorities also searched the residence. The resulting case included a drug allegation after investigators said they found more than 200 grams of marijuana, leading to a possession-with-intent-to-deliver charge against Cruz. That offense is legally separate from the allegations involving the children but was included in the same criminal complaint. Investigators also reviewed evidence connected to prior concerns about the children and spoke with people outside the immediate household who said they had noticed bruising or heard crying.
The history of outside concern became another part of the neglect theory against Kurek. Court records indicated the family had prior contact with child welfare authorities. Prosecutors pointed to the combination of previous warnings, visible injuries, witness observations and Kurek’s own knowledge of Cruz’s behavior in arguing that she had repeated opportunities to act. The state’s case alleged chronic neglect, a charge based on multiple failures to provide necessary care rather than a single decision made on Oct. 18.
Early courtroom proceedings emphasized that difference between the two defendants. Cruz faced allegations that he personally carried out repeated physical attacks. Kurek faced allegations that she failed in her duty to protect the children from that danger. Prosecutors argued that her continued support of Cruz came at the expense of Dante. A court commissioner reacted strongly to the allegations when setting conditions in the case, while also presiding over a proceeding that did not itself determine final guilt.
With Kurek’s plea, prosecutors no longer need to ask a jury to resolve whether her omissions met the criminal standard for the neglect charges. She has admitted those offenses. Sentencing will determine the legal consequence, and the judge can consider information allowed under Wisconsin’s sentencing process. The publicly reported date for that hearing is Sept. 29.
Cruz remains in a different position. The children’s allegations against him, the first-responder observations and his reported statements are evidence cited by prosecutors, but they have not yet produced a conviction on the homicide and abuse counts. The state must continue to prove its case or resolve it through other lawful proceedings. The girl’s statements and the allegations involving Dante therefore remain part of an active prosecution.
The separate paths of the two cases reflect how investigators parsed responsibility inside the same home. Kurek’s admitted conduct centers on failing to protect and provide necessary care. Cruz’s pending charges center on alleged repeated physical abuse and Dante’s death. Kurek’s Sept. 29 sentencing is the next confirmed milestone in her case, while the allegations against Cruz remain unresolved in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.