Young mother kills 8-month-old son after her bath was disrupted by his cries

A 20-year-old mother is facing charges of killing her eight-month-old son. She drowned him in the bathtub of a hotel.

The incident happened on February 28th at a hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Esperanza Rae Harding allegedly drowned her son, Mateo, in the bathtub after he cried and interrupted her bath time in the Bloomington hotel on the edge of Minnesota and Minneapolis, according to court documents.

Police believe Harding's boyfriend, 18-year-old Edwin Trudeau, was present at the time. He did not call for help. Instead, he suggested disposing of Mateo's body in the trash, police said.

The couple reportedly had intimate relations next to the deceased baby. Later, Harding attempted to cover up the crime by bringing the body to a children's hospital several days later on March 1. She claimed her son had succumbed to natural causes. However, inconsistencies in her story and a lack of medical history for Mateo raised red flags for hospital staff.

Over questioning, Harding reportedly confessed to drowning Mateo and then putting his body in a backpack before throwing it away. She also claimed her boyfriend pressured her to choose him over her child. She also said her boyfriend did not like her child and even wanted her to give him up for adoption.

Text messages retrieved from the couple's phones paint a chilling picture. Harding allegedly sent messages hinting at harming Mateo, to which Trudeau responded with indifference. In another message, she wrote about Mateo crying excessively and wanting to do something "bad."

Trudeau allegedly encouraged Harding to stay silent, even comparing them to notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. The couple never sought medical attention for Mateo, despite attempting CPR themselves.