North Jersey couple heading to prison for beating death of 3-year-old boy

Charlie Dwyer

MORRISTOWN, NJ – A couple convicted in connection to the beating deaeth of a three year-old child are heading to prison. Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said Edwin Urbina, 29, and Krystal Straw, 29, have been sentenced connection with the beating death of Straw’s three-year-old son.

Urbina was sentenced to live in prison. Straw was handed an 18 year prison term.


On January 12, 2023, Straw appeared before the Honorable Stephen J. Taylor, P.J.Cr. and entered an open plea of guilty to two counts of second-degree Endangering Welfare of a Child, three counts of third-degree Hindering Apprehension, third-degree Tampering with a Witness, and fourth-degree Tampering with Physical Evidence.

According to court records, on August 13, 2021, shortly after 5:00 a.m., officers from the Morristown Police Department responded to the Morristown Medical Center in Morristown on a report of a three-year-old boy in cardiac arrest.

“A subsequent investigation revealed that the child had sustained a number of physical injuries. Following an autopsy, Morris County Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Carlos Fonseca, M.D. determined the manner of death to be homicide,” the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office reported today.


Police determined that Urbina fatally beat the child in the early that morning inside the OYO Hotel in East Hanover. The beating was witnessed by the boy’s 5-year-old sibling.

“Further investigation revealed that the victim’s mother, Straw, was not present during the assault, but arrived at the hotel shortly thereafter. Following the victim’s death, both Urbina and Straw engaged in conduct to hinder the State’s investigation including removing Urbina and his personal belongings from the OYO Hotel, deleting cell phone content, and informing the victim’s five-year-old sibling not to speak about the incident,” Prosecutor Carroll said.

The state investigation revealed Urbina had pveiously beaten the child.

Prosecutor Carroll said, “These sentencings bring to a close this terrible and tragic crime. Justice has finally been done for little 3 year old Liam.”

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.