Man pleads innocent to choking mom of Richland toddler found dead in tent
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Francisco Estrada pleaded innocent to two counts of second-degree assault and one count.
- Estrada is held on $50,000 bail and faces trial scheduled for Aug. 10.
- Police searched for Estrada after the toddler’s death but he has not been charged in it.
A Grandview man pleaded innocent this week to choking his girlfriend just a day after her toddler was found dead in a backyard tent they’d been sleeping in.
Francisco Estrada Jr., 37, appeared by video in Benton County Superior Court for the first time Tuesday, days after his first appearance was scheduled but said he was too sick to leave his jail cell.
He is charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of unlawful imprisonment.
He remains in the Benton County jail with bail set at $50,000. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 10.
The 18-month-old boy was discovered dead in the tent on the 2300 block of Camden Street on June 9. Officials have yet to release the suspected cause of the toddler’s death.
While there’s been an autopsy, Richland police and the Benton County coroner have been reluctant to release much information about the death investigation.
Estrada and the boy’s mother had been living in the tent in the yard of a friend. The mother told police she did not know what happened to the boy.
Estrada was located nearby, taken into custody the same day and questioned about the death but released without being arrested.
Sometime after his release, he went to a room at the Richland Motel 6 that police had rented for the toddler’s mom with money from a Community Care Fund.
They got into an argument sometime before midnight on June 10. He was reportedly upset that she contacted the boy’s father about his death. Estrada accused her of cheating on him, said court documents.
He became enraged and pressed his arm against her neck until she passed out, claim court documents.
When she woke up she was on the bathroom floor and tried to lock herself inside, she told investigators. He eventually got in and the arguing continued.
And when she told him she was going to call police, he became even angrier, police said.
When she tried to leave, he allegedly cornered her in the room and poured tequila on her. While she was in the shower, he took her phone, keys, cards and the key card.
She responded by locking him out, but he allegedly forced his way back into the room and dug a screwdriver into her leg until she bled, said court documents.