David VanderLeest appears virtually in Brown County court, June 30, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) Charges against David VanderLeest were dismissed Monday but are expected to be re-filed, a prosecutor said Monday, as the state focuses on charges against his son, James VanderLeest, for the death of a 2-year-old boy.
James VanderLeest, 22, faces reckless homicide and other charges for the June 22, 2025, death of Leo Escalante. An Aug. 10 status conference is scheduled.
David VanderLeest, 49, face charges of aiding a felon and obstruction for allegedly lying to police about his role in the boy’s death and then helping his son evade police.
While David was scheduled to stand trial Aug. 4, Deputy District Attorney Dana Johnson filed a motion to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning he could re-file in the future.
In court Monday, Johnson said the James VanderLeest case is the state’s priority at this time. An adjournment wouldn’t be fair to David, who is out of jail on bond, while the case is pending, he said.
Also, proving David aided a felon would be easier if James was already convicted in his case, Johnson said.
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.
But 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 her son “limp” and unresponsive. She also said James wanted her to say it was David who was with the boy when the injuries occurred. 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 said the VanderLeests fled to a relative’s cabin in Florence County, where a SWAT team helped take them into custody.
James admitted he was with Escalante and then told police the same story — that Escalante had fallen down the stairs. He repeatedly denied causing fatal injuries. When pressed, James 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 stairs fall.
Escalante was flown to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, where he was pronounced dead two days after his injuries occurred. 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.”
Family members of Escalante said James is the ex-boyfriend of Escalante’s mother. However, he is not Escalante’s father.
At previous court hearings, both VanderLeests disputed the accounts offered by police and prosecutors.
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