By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

According to Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the woman who allegedly was the mother of the deceased infant that was found in a field on March 4 was charged in Jefferson County Circuit Court on March 28 with two felonies. Santos Asucena Caseres Cruz, age 39, 755 N. Tratt Street, Lot 42, faces charges of Neglecting a Child (Consequence is Death) and Move/Hide/Bury Corpse of Child. The Court ordered a $10,000.00 CASH Bond, with conditions: surrender of any passport, not to leave Jefferson County, and the Defendant is to report and comply with GPS monitoring program as administered by Wisconsin Community Services.

Per WKOW, “Although she initially denied the pregnancy, Caseres Cruz later admitted she had the baby on January 27 in secret. She told police she believed the baby was dead soon after he was born. She said she did not call 911 or get help because her other children didn’t know she was pregnant. A probable cause statement said, the next day, Caseres Cruz put the baby in the field where it was later found. ” This purported timing conflicts with the earlier statement from investigators who said that they believed that the child had been in the field for less than two days prior to being discovered on March 4.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 4, 2023.

The initial press release from March 4 regarding the incident is available here.