David "D.J." Creato is charged with murder.
CAMDEN -- Cleanly shaven with his long hair swept behind his ears, David "D.J." Creato appeared in court Monday before his parents, the mother of his child, and Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley.
The scheduled status conference lasted mere minutes, but wheels of justice are slowly turning in the case against Creato, who is charged in the October 2015 death of his 3-year-old son Brendan.
"It was quite voluminous," Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah said of the trove of digital data delivered to Creato's lawyer, Richard J. Fuschino Jr.
Creato, 22, was arrested earlier this year. He's accused of killing the toddler to continue a relationship with a 17-year-old girl who apparently exhibited a disdain for children and the fact Creato continued to have contact with Brendan's biological mother, Samantha Denoto.
Denoto was in court Monday accompanied by her boyfriend. They left the Camden County Hall of Justice without comment and flanked by a Camden County Prosecutor's Office spokesman.
David and Lisa Creato, D.J.'s parents, similarly declined comment after the brief hearing. Their son, who will appear in court again late next month, has been held on $750,000 bail since his January arraignment.
Fuschino said he'd received "everything I could expect" as a result of the case's discovery process and that he's still reviewing much of it. Authorities said Creato and his girlfriend at the time exchanged thousands of text messages, some of which pertain to this case and the alleged motive proposed by the prosecution.
Creato is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Brendan's body was found a half-mile from the Haddon Township apartment where he stayed with his father.
The boy's body was partially submerged in a stream that feeds into the Cooper River. Shah argued in court that Brendan was likely carried to the wooded and muddy scene, as Creato was familiar with the area and that the boy's socks were clean.
An autopsy and toxicology tests initially failed to find an exact cause of death, but a Camden County prosecutor argued in court that Brendan died as a result of "homicidal violence." The Camden County Prosecutor's Office has declined to offer comments on this case outside of what's said in court.
Speaking with reporters outside of the court complex, Fuschino declined to comment on the evidence provided thus far. He noted that the "wheels of justice move slowly" when it comes to this case, but he's "gearing up for trial."
As for his client, Fuschino said the shock is starting to wear off and that Creato is "more ready now to defend himself" compared to his state of mind immediately after the arrest.
"I think he's doing as well as he can be in these circumstances," Fuschino said.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.