Prosecutors say Charlotte Kurek ignored repeated signs of abuse and once used loud music to cover her son’s cries.

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — A Wisconsin mother has pleaded guilty to two felony neglect charges in the death of her 4-year-old son nearly a year after first responders found the child unresponsive near a Dairy Queen and investigators accused her of repeatedly failing to protect him from his father.

Charlotte Kurek pleaded guilty to child neglect resulting in death and chronic child neglect in connection with the death of Dante Campbell. She is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 29 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Her plea resolves the criminal case against her while the prosecution of Dante’s father, Devario Cruz, remains pending. Cruz has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, repeated physical abuse of a child causing death, chronic neglect resulting in death and additional offenses involving Dante’s twin sister. The charges against Cruz remain allegations unless proved in court.

The guilty plea shifts the case from the allegations against Kurek to the punishment a judge will impose. Prosecutors had accused her not of delivering the fatal injuries described in the criminal investigation but of allowing an escalating pattern of mistreatment to continue inside the family’s West Allis home. According to the criminal complaint filed in Cruz’s case, children interviewed by investigators described repeated violence against the twins and said Kurek was present for at least some of it. One child told investigators that Kurek sometimes turned up music while Dante cried, an allegation that became one of the clearest examples cited by authorities of what they viewed as her failure to intervene.

The criminal investigation began Oct. 18, 2025, after Kurek called 911 while she and Cruz were driving with Dante. Dispatchers directed them to stop in the parking lot of a Dairy Queen on West Greenfield Avenue so emergency crews could reach the child more quickly. Police arrived shortly after 8 a.m. and found paramedics working on Dante. According to the complaint, he was pale, unresponsive and not breathing. Responders observed extensive bruising and said his clothing smelled strongly of urine. He was transported to Children’s Wisconsin and was pronounced dead.

What happened before the 911 call became an important part of the prosecution’s account. Court records say Cruz found Dante unresponsive in the bedroom that morning and told Kurek he believed the boy was dead. Instead of immediately contacting emergency services, the adults first drove Dante and his twin sister to the home of one of Kurek’s friends and left the girl there. Three other children were allegedly left at the family’s residence. Kurek called 911 only after the stop at the friend’s home. Authorities have cited the delay as part of the wider pattern of neglect surrounding Dante’s death.

Kurek initially gave police a different account of how Dante had been hurt. According to the complaint, she told an officer that the boy had fallen down a staircase the previous evening while walking with her and that bicycles and bags stored near the landing fell on him. She said the fall accounted for the bruising. Investigators said the injuries observed by first responders did not appear consistent with such a fall. Prosecutors later told a court that Kurek and Cruz had initially offered misleading explanations before the investigation developed evidence pointing toward repeated abuse.

Other children in the household provided investigators with a much broader account. Forensic interviews described in the complaint included allegations that Cruz repeatedly struck Dante and his twin sister with his hands and objects and imposed painful punishments. One child said Dante would cry for his mother while Cruz hurt him but that Kurek did not stop what was happening. The same witness said Kurek played music loudly enough to drown out Dante’s cries. Those accounts were allegations when prosecutors filed the cases, but Kurek’s subsequent guilty plea means she has now admitted criminal liability for the neglect offenses charged against her.

Investigators also examined injuries suffered by Dante’s twin sister. The complaint says the girl had swelling near an eye, scratches and bruises when authorities encountered her. During a forensic interview, she accused her father of hurting her. Cruz is charged with repeated physical abuse causing bodily harm and chronic neglect involving the girl in addition to the counts connected to Dante. Authorities have not alleged that Kurek personally inflicted Dante’s fatal injuries, and her two charges focused on neglect rather than homicide or physical abuse.

The state also relied on Kurek’s knowledge of Cruz’s treatment of the children. In interviews described by local news reports and court records, Kurek characterized Cruz as heavy-handed with discipline. Prosecutors argued at an early hearing that she had repeated opportunities to protect Dante but continued the relationship and allowed Cruz access to the children. That distinction is central to the case against her: the prosecution’s theory focused on what she knew about the danger in the home and what she failed to do in response, rather than alleging she carried out the attacks attributed to Cruz.

The allegations against Cruz are considerably broader. His criminal complaint charges him with repeated physical abuse of Dante causing death, first-degree reckless homicide and chronic neglect resulting in death. He also faces counts involving Dante’s twin sister and a marijuana charge after investigators said they recovered a substantial quantity of the drug from the residence. The complaint alleges Cruz later acknowledged striking Dante with significant force, though the precise legal significance of his statements will be decided through the court process. Cruz has not been convicted of causing Dante’s death.

The complaint describes other warning signs around the family before the fatal morning. Investigators interviewed people who said they had seen bruising on the twins or heard the children crying. Authorities also examined earlier contacts involving child welfare officials. Those details became part of the prosecution’s argument that Dante’s condition did not develop from one isolated incident. The criminal neglect charges filed against Kurek covered an alleged continuing course of conduct rather than only the hours immediately before the child’s death.

Dante’s death drew strong reactions during the defendants’ initial court appearances. Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Barry Phillips described the allegations as among the most disturbing he had encountered. Prosecutors said the bruising documented on Dante was extensive and that emergency personnel who responded were deeply affected. Those reactions were made before either defendant had been convicted and reflected the severity of the allegations in the criminal complaints rather than a final determination of Cruz’s guilt.

Kurek’s plea now establishes a different legal posture for her. She no longer faces a trial on the two neglect counts and instead awaits sentencing. A guilty plea generally allows a court to move directly to the sentencing phase after determining that the plea is knowing and voluntary and that a factual basis supports the convictions. Public reporting on the plea did not establish what specific sentence the judge will impose, and that decision remains pending.

The timing also separates Kurek’s case from Cruz’s unresolved prosecution. Although they were charged after the same investigation and lived together with the children, prosecutors assigned different alleged conduct to each defendant. Kurek’s convictions concern neglect. Cruz is accused of both neglect and direct physical abuse culminating in Dante’s death. His homicide and child-abuse charges must still be tested through the criminal process unless his case is resolved by a plea or another court action.

The Dairy Queen parking lot where emergency crews met the family became associated with the case because it was where police first encountered Dante, but court records indicate the alleged mistreatment occurred primarily at the family’s home. Dispatchers instructed Kurek and Cruz to stop at the restaurant because it was an accessible meeting point for emergency responders. The child was then taken to a hospital. The prosecution’s case focused less on the restaurant itself than on what investigators said happened in the home during the preceding weeks and months and on the delay before emergency help was sought.

Kurek is due back in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Sept. 29 for sentencing. Cruz’s case remains unresolved, and no conviction should be inferred from the pending charges against him. The two proceedings now stand at different stages: Kurek has admitted guilt to neglect offenses while prosecutors continue pursuing allegations that Cruz directly abused Dante and his twin sister and caused the boy’s death.

Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.