Neither of the people charged in connection with the death of 3-year-old Liam Straw will testify about what happened.
The boy’s mother, Krystal Straw, took the Fifth Amendment on Monday when subpoenaed to testify against Edwin Urbina, the Morristown man on trial for allegedly beating Liam to death with a slipper in a sweltering East Hanover hotel room in 2021.
Urbina, 28, won’t be taking the stand in his defense, either.
“I’m going to exercise my Fifth Amendment,” he said, in a low, deep voice, responding to questioning by state Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor in Morristown, as the murder trial entered its second week.
Urbina is charged with killing the little boy and then enlisting Straw, his girlfriend at the time, to help him cover it up.
Defense attorney Joel Harris, who subpoenaed Straw, indicated in court that he intends to argue she could have delivered the lethal blow.
He told the judge he is basing that on testimony from two prosecution witnesses:
Former Morris County Deputy Medical Examiner Carlos Fonseca, whose admittedly rough estimate of Liam’s time of death could mean Straw had returned to Room 521 of the OYO Hotel from her overnight shift at a Whippany Quickchek before Liam was struck; and Liam’s sister, who said her mom had hit her brother in the past and made him cry.
That bit of information came Friday in dramatic Zoom testimony.
Liam’s sister, who was 5 when Liam died early on Aug. 13, 2021, referred to Urbina as her dad and said he struck Liam repeatedly with a slipper after they angered him by having a snack.
Straw drove Urbina to “his friend’s house” with the children in the back seat — authorities believe Liam already was dead–and Urbina told the girl not to tell anyone his name, according to her testimony.
Straw awaits sentencing after pleading guilty last month to child endangerment, witness tampering and hindering an investigation.
Harris had asked Taylor to sentence the mother ahead of Urbina’s trial. That might have enabled him to compel Straw’s testimony.
But the judge reiterated his reason for waiting.
“Considering the nature of this case and Miss Straw’s involvement in it, the court wanted to hear all the elements of the case to make an appropriate sentence,” Taylor said.
The jury was not present for Monday’s proceedings. Straw, in handcuffs and wearing a COVID mask and an orange Morris County Jail jumpsuit, appeared to look only briefly in the direction of Urbina, clad in civilian clothes for the trial.
Under questioning by Harris, Straw invoked her right against self-incrimination with Morris County Assistant Public Defender Tracy Denholtz by her side. The legal formality was over in minutes.
The judge noted that Straw’s plea in January was not part of any deal with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, and she potentially faces a significant prison term.
Straw rejected an offer that might have brought a lighter sentence if she testified against Urbina.
Assistant Prosecutors Tara Wang and Kelly Sandler rested their case against Urbina on Friday. Harris is up next. Judge Taylor said he will inform the jury not to infer guilt from Urbina’s decision to stay off the witness stand.
