Did toddler walk to where he was found dead? Here's the route (VIDEO)

The boy's father, David "D.J." Creato Jr., 23, is accused of killing him to please his girlfriend. Watch video

HADDON TWP. -- Jurors have seen and heard a lot of evidence in the eight days of the murder trial of David "D.J." Creato Jr., 23, who is accused of killing his 3-year-old son, Brendan.

But it seems like few pieces of evidence will be more important than the boy's clean, grey and green socks, held up by a detective on the witness stand May 3. Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah told jurors that since the boy wasn't wearing shoes, there's no way he could have clean socks if he walked the route from his father's home at 103 Cooper Street to the creek in Cooper River Park where he was found Oct. 13, 2015.

Brendan Creato, 3, was found dead near Cooper River in October 2015.
 

When Creato called 911 to report his son was missing when he woke up, Creato said he locked his door and that his son might have opened it and walked out. Hours later his body was found near the creek. 

Although three medical examiners testified that they are unable to determine where, how and when Brendan died, authorities concluded someone carried him there and placed him on a rock in the creek. They said the evidence points to Creato as the culprit.

Shah told jurors -- who got to visit the spot in the park in the second week of the trial -- that it is three-quarters of a mile from the apartment to the creek.

This NJ Advance Media video shows the route, including Creato's apartment building and the spot in the creek where Brendan was found.

Is there a motive?

Shah told jurors Creato killed his son to save his "rocky" relationship with his girlfriend at the time, Julia Stensky. Creato told police she had given him an ultimatum about his son, and Stensky, now 19, testified that she didn't want Creato to have custody of his child. Jurors on Tuesday saw the text messages from their arguments about how Stensky didn't want to spend time with the boy.

Creato denies the charges. The defense doesn't have to put forth a theory of what happened to Brendan before his father woke up Oct. 13, 2015 and called 911 to report him missing.

To get an acquittal, defense attorney Richard J. Fuschino Jr. just needs to convince jurors there is a reasonable doubt that his client did it. He has pointed to three medical examiners' inability to find a specific cause of death and the lack of DNA evidence, among other things.

Cop cries telling jury about carrying tot's body

For his part, Creato told police when his son went missing that perhaps he had walked out on his own or been taken by someone. He later told Brendan's mother, Samantha Denoto, that "spirits" may have lured the boy to the creek.

But even he admitted to police that it was extremely unlikely that Brendan, who was afraid of the dark, would wander out of the apartment at night.

The trial before Camden County Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley is expected to last until the end of May. Due to the judge's schedule, the trial has adjourned until Tuesday.