Woman pleads guilty to drowning son in Bloomington hotel bathtub
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — A Minnesota woman has pleaded guilty to drowning her child in a hotel bathtub in Bloomington last spring.
Esperanza Harding, 21, entered a guilty plea to one count of second-degree murder last month, according to court records.
Authorities interviewed Harding after she went to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis in March asking about her son, whom she said died at the hospital, charges state. The hospital had no record of the boy.
She eventually told police the boy died at a hotel in Bloomington on Feb. 28, 2024. Charges say Harding was taking a bath in the hotel when the boy started crying in the other room. She texted her boyfriend, Edwin Trudeau, saying she was going to kill the boy, then texted him again after drowning him, the complaint states.
Trudeau is charged with one count of aiding an offender. Prosecutors say he came to the hotel and unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate the child, then told Harding to throw his body in the garbage, which she did.
Authorities have not said how old the boy was.
Prosecutors will seek an aggravated sentence of 32 years for Harding, court documents state. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 12.
Trudeau is set to go to trial next month.