James Vanderleest appears before Brown County court, December 1, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A motions hearing will be held in two weeks on James VanderLeest’s request to have contact with his father. The younger VanderLeest is accused of causing the death of Leo Escalante, 2, while the elder VanderLeest is charged for allegedly lying about what happened.
Meanwhile, the court and attorneys are still working on other pre-trial motions in the case.
VanderLeest, 22, is charged with reckless homicide for the June 22 death of Escalante on Green Bay’s east side. David VanderLeest, 48, is charged with aiding a felon and obstruction for allegedly lying to police, claiming he was the one at home at the time of Escalante’s death.
Last week, his attorneys filed several motions. Judge Samantha Wagner addressed them Monday.
- One seeks Escalante’s medical records. Prosecutors have not replied to that yet. Once they do, the court will address it.
- The judge will privately review any social services records related to Escalante.
- James requested to have contact with David. The judge in James’ case will review it April 23, while David’s case is in court April 24.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded to an Alpine Drive address for a report of a child who fell down the stairs and was not breathing.
David said he was home alone with Escalante when he left him to get a roll of toilet paper. When he returned, he found the boy at the bottom of the steps, David claimed. When police first talked to James, he said his father was the one with Escalante at the time of the incident.
Escalante’s mother told police it was James who called her to say the child wasn’t breathing. She went to the home, where she found him “limp” and unresponsive. She also said James wanted her to say it was David who was with the boy when the injuries happened. The mother called 911.
An officer asked the mother “if she could recall any other words he was saying and she explained James kept telling her, “I’m sorry” and that it was “an accident,”,” the complaint states.
After Escalante’s death, authorities say the VanderLeests took off to a relative’s cabin in Florence County where a SWAT team helped take them into custody.
James admitted he was with the boy and then told police the same story, that Escalante had fallen down the stairs. He repeatedly denied causing the injuries. When pressed, he told police they were not going to get a “fake confession,” the complaint states.
David told police James told him the same version of events about the stair fall.
Escalante was flown to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee where he was pronounced dead two days after his injuries happened. According to the autopsy, “There were blunt force injuries to the head-multiple scalp and facial contusions; deep scalp and subgaleal hemorrhages; subdural hematoma; cerebral edema; scattered contusion of the extremities; three contusions of the trunk; two patterned contusions of the upper extremities.”
A doctor told police his injuries were not consistent with a fall down the stairs.
Family of Escalante tells says James is the ex-boyfriend of Escalante’s mother. However, he is not Escalante’s father.
At previous court hearings, both VanderLeests disputed the account offered by police and prosecutors.
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