Retrial scheduled for dad accused in 3-year-old son’s death

CAMDEN, N.J. – The retrial of a New Jersey man accused of killing his 3-year-old son because the boy had become an impediment to his relationship with a teenage girlfriend is scheduled for September.

A judge on Wednesday set a Sept. 11 trial date for David Creato. A mistrial was declared in May after jurors failed to reach a verdict on murder charges following five days of deliberation.

The 23-year-old Creato has maintained that his son, Brendan, wandered away from his Haddon Township home in October 2015. The boy’s pajama-clad body was found hours later about a mile away.

Prosecutors say Creato killed his son because he feared his 17-year-old girlfriend was going to leave him. The girlfriend was never charged, and the couple has since broken up.