Mom Faces Decades In Prison After Covering Up 3-Year-Old Son's Beating Death

A 29-year-old mother in New Jersey has admitted she lied to police and helped her boyfriend escape after he allegedly beat her 3-year-old son to death in 2021.

Krystal Straw, of East Hanover, pleaded guilty in a court in Morristown, New Jersey, Thursday to several charges including child endangerment, witness tampering and hindering an investigation, the Morristown Green reported.

She was scheduled to be tried with her live-in partner, Edwin Urbina, 29, next month. Instead, she will be sentenced in March by Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor.

Straw faces up to a maximum of 41 years and six months in state prison and $370,000 in fines. But the judge said that term was highly unlikely because there are limits on the number of sentences a person can serve consecutively, the Daily Record reported.

Straw pleaded guilty to all seven counts against her with no promise of leniency. A prior offer of 13 years in exchange for a plea to reduced charges and testimony against Urbina was no longer on the table.

On Thursday, Straw admitted that despite knowing Urbina allegedly physically assaulted her toddler son in the past, she had left him and her 5-year-old daughter in his care in their East Hanover hotel room on the evening of Aug. 12, 2021, while she went to work at a QuickChek.

In the early morning hours of Aug. 13, 2021, Urbina called Straw to return to the Oyo Hotel, telling her her son was not conscious.

Straw, who could not say at the time whether or not her son was already dead, said that Urbina ordered her not to call 911 or get help.

Straw helped Urbina clean up the hotel room as her daughter watched and dropped her boyfriend off at his last known residence in Morristown before taking her unconscious and badly bruised son to Morristown Medical Center, where the child was declared dead.

Straw admitted she told her daughter "no talking" to avoid implicating Urbina and deleted her partner's contact information and text message conversations between them on her phone at Urbina's instruction.

At the hospital, Straw told police she was home alone with the children and woke up to find her son "sick and throwing up." She said at the time that the bruises stemmed from her trying to perform CPR on the child. Straw admitted Thursday that she had lied to officers.

Straw claimed she was told by Urbina that she would not get into trouble since she had no criminal record. Urbina had a criminal history.

Based on partial statements from Straw's daughter, Urbina allegedly used a slipper or sandal to beat the boy. The Morris County Medical Examiner's office ruled the child's death a homicide.

Urbina was found and taken into custody four days later. He was arrested without incident outside the Morris County Records and Administration building in Morristown.

Urbina was indicted on charges of murder, child endangerment, witness- and evidence tampering and hindering the investigation. If convicted of all counts, Urbina faces a life sentence without parole, plus 91 and a half years.

He rejected last month a plea deal that would have sent him to jail for about 50 years. The 29-year-old allegedly told prosecutors that he would not accept any deal that would put him behind bars for more than 10 years.

Urbina is set to appear in court on Jan. 18 in a pre-trial conference. On the other hand, Straw is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16.