Honk News (Bloomington, MN) – A mother faced the consequences on Thursday after the tragic loss of her baby boy. Esperanza Rae Harding, 21, has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for a charge of second-degree intentional murder.
According to earlier reports, Harding informed the police that she drowned her 8-month-old son Mateo because his crying disrupted her bath at a hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota, on February 28, 2024. She sent a message to her boyfriend, Edwin Cosmo Trudeau, 19, before the incident, saying, “he doing to much rn, I can’t fucking sleep, Im trying tho, Im about to do something bad, Please answer me, He going to no be here much longer.”
Rather than discouraging her, Trudeau responded with, “Ok that’s ok.”
When she later expressed her sorrow about Mateo’s death, he responded, “Don’t be.”
Trudeau acted as her supporter, likening their situation to that of bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde, stating, “If you go down, I go down no matter what.” Harding informed authorities that her boyfriend was not fond of the baby and expressed a desire for her to put the infant up for adoption.
“She stated that Trudeau wanted her to prove that he was her top priority,” they wrote.
Documents reveal that Trudeau confessed to police about visiting the hotel room, where he discovered the baby deceased in the bathroom.
“The defendant admitted that he didn’t call for help, but rather, had sex with Harding before leaving the hotel room,” authorities wrote.
Documents reveal that Harding informed investigators Trudeau had tried CPR without success before they engaged in sexual activity in another room, while the baby remained deceased on the bathroom floor.
“According to the defendant, she packed up Victim in a backpack and threw Victim into a dumpster in the hotel parking lot,” they wrote. “The defendant stated that she knew she was going to do time because she killed her own kid.”
Harding and Trudeau have both admitted guilt in their cases, but it seems that his prison sentence will be much shorter than hers. Prosecutors in Hennepin County have indicated that due to his plea deal for assisting an offender — specifically as an accomplice after the fact, his maximum sentence is set at seven years and two months. A sentencing hearing is set for May 5, where he will discover his fate.