The Misery Machine - The Cases of Mateo Harding & Baby Sarah

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Starting point is 00:01:39 We aim to provide informative, factual journalism on a tragic event in the public interest that is not dismiss its seriousness. All clips are used under the doctrine of fair use for news reporting and analysis. Quentin Simon, Jesse Shockley, Noah Tomlin, Kayon Jones. These are just a few of the names of some of the victims that we've covered. on this channel that all met the same fate. They were all killed by their mothers and then discarded like trash in various dumpsters. To this day, some of these children have never been recovered. When a child goes missing, one of the first places police check are sorting facilities in landfills.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Not only did law enforcement confirm this in Noah Tomlin's case, but we also had a listener reach out to us who worked in a similar capacity that explained that part of their job was to look out for the body. bodies of children and animals while sorting through salvage. Today, we're going to be discussing two unique cases that took place over 1,700 miles apart, to the cases of Mateo Harding and baby Sarah. Mateo Harding was born on July 19, 23 in Oklahoma to parents Jesus Casares and Esperanza Ray Harding. He came into this world just a month after his mother graduated from high school. According to his father, Jesus, he was really happy. He enjoyed life. He was always laughing, just joking. Mateo was an adorable baby boy with dark hair, big brown eyes, and a sweet smile.

Starting point is 00:03:14 At the time of our story, he was just shy of eight months old in living with Esperanza in a hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. She and Jesus had separated, and there was already a new man in her life, 18-year-old Edwin Cosmo Trudeau. There was just one major problem. Edwin hated Mateo. He wanted Esperanza to give her son up for adoption, and he wanted her to prove to him that he was her top priority. Sadly, Esperanza was such a desperate pickme that she did exactly that, sort of. At around 4.45 p.m. on February 28, 2024,

Starting point is 00:03:53 Esperanza texted Edwin to vent her frustrations about her son. Apparently, the young mother wanted to take a bath, but Mateo's crying was interrupting her desired peace and quiet. She told Edwin, and I quote, He's doing too much right now. I can't keep sleep. I'm trying, though. I'm about to do something bad. Please answer me.

Starting point is 00:04:15 He's going to not be here much longer. However, rather than try to comfort his girlfriend or maybe stop by the hotel to help her out or talk her down in some way, He told her, okay, that's okay. However, a short time later, Esperanza texted Edwin back. This time she told him that her son was dead, that she was sorry. Like the true psychopath that he is, Edwin replied, don't be. Esperanza claimed that she attempted CPR, but Edwin told her to stop. He told her, it's okay, I'm a help.

Starting point is 00:04:47 And later, you're making things harder. Stop, we are a team. We do this. We'll get into exactly how Mateo died later in the video, but according to reports, Edwin arrived at the hotel to find baby Mateo dead on the bathroom floor. He allegedly attempted CPR, but couldn't be bothered to call emergency services. Edwin had finally gotten what he had wanted, which was Mateo out of the picture, and now he had Esperanza all to himself. To add insult to injury, the couple hooked up in the hotel room while a seven-month-old baby lay dead in the next. room. I really don't know why this part of it has to be a trend in cases we cover where

Starting point is 00:05:27 not only is someone sick enough to kill a baby, but then they hook up with someone right in front of the baby's body. This is so incredibly hard for me to wrap my mind around, but somehow people doing this after they kill their child sadly happens more often than you think. Now, also a trend we've seen is that the pair fancied themselves as a modern-day body and Clyde for leaving, Edwin told Esperanza to keep her mouth shut, he said, and I quote, It is always going to be us, Bonnie and Clyde. If you go down, I go down, no matter what. He then instructed her to act like she was taking her trash out and throw Mateo in the dumpster.

Starting point is 00:06:08 Esperanza sadly did exactly that. She then told him that she knew that she was going to do time because she, in her own words, killed her own kid. Now the scary part is that Esperanza might have. have gotten away with her wicked crimes. That was until she showed up the Children's Minnesota Hospital, Minneapolis, empty-handed. According to a statement of probable cause filed by Detective Carrie Nolden on March 6, 2024, officers with the Bloomington Police Department responded to a call at the hospital for a report of a missing child. Upon arrival, the officer met with the victim's

Starting point is 00:06:47 mother, Esperanza. Esperanza shared with the officers that. that her son Mateo had died of natural causes a week earlier on March 1st. However, she claimed that all of this had taken place at the hospital, and the hospital had no record of her son being admitted, treated, or dying at their facility. In addition, the office of the medical examiner had no record of a seven-month-old baby being transferred for autopsy. Given the suspicious nature of the call in Esperanza's wild claims, the officers decided to sit down with a young mom for an interview. After continuing to provide inconsistent information,

Starting point is 00:07:27 Esperanza eventually decided to come clean. Little Mateo hadn't died at the hospital. In fact, on February 28th, she drowned him in the bathtub before wrapping his body, stuffing it inside of a backpack, and tossing it into the dumpster at the hotel. According to Esperanza, she couldn't enjoy her bath due to her son's crying. So she decided to kill him. She then took a picture of Mateo's body floating face down in the water and sent it to her boyfriend. Police later recovered the photo from her cell phone. Esperanza only removed him from the tub after, and these are her words, he was done moving, done twitching. Esperanza Harding was arrested in charge with second-degree murder and initially held on a $1.5 million bail. Edwin Trudeau was also arrested in charge with

Starting point is 00:08:20 aiding an offender. Both were held in the Hennepin County Jail awaiting their April 3rd, 2024 hearing. After learning of Mateo's fate, his biological father, Jesus Casares, as well as his extended family, held a vigil for the little boy outside of the Bloomington Hotel where he was killed. He was really happy. He enjoyed life. Baby Mateo lit up every room with that smile. for eight months of his life. He was always laughing and just enjoying life. Now, these pictures and videos are all his dad, Jesus Casares, has left.

Starting point is 00:08:56 Right now, I have more anger than sadness. After finding out what happened to his son. Court documents show Esperanza Harding allegedly drowned her son in a hotel bathtub on February 28th. A week later, police were called to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, guarding a missing child. Friends say they suggested hospital staff should get authorities involved. Stories weren't adding up. Everything was off.

Starting point is 00:09:24 Harding told officers her son died in the hospital, but there was no record of the child being there. Investigators say, eventually, the 20-year-old admitted. Exema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebbglis, a once-monthly treatment for moderate-tissom. After an initial four-month- or longer-diseach. dosing phase, about four and seven people taking ebbglis, achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year

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Starting point is 00:11:08 then threw it in a dumpster. She didn't cry. Who doesn't cry for their baby? Harding told police her 18-year-old boyfriend, Edwin Trudeau, did not like her son. She says it was his idea to throw her son in the dumpster and not to tell anyone. The body still has not been found. We just want to find Mateo. We just want justice for him to be able to give him a proper burial.

Starting point is 00:11:33 Baby Mateo's family and friends created this vigil outside the Bloomington Hotel to hold on to those memories and remember his life. He was a sweet baby, always smiling. Honestly, I don't want anything else other just to find my son and give him the peace he needs. On December 20th, 2024, now 21-year-old Esperanza pled guilty to one count of second degree intentional murder. In March of 2025, she was sentenced to 384 months in prison with 366 days of credit time served. In a statement, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty shared, My thoughts are with Mateo's family today. This was a heartbreaking case, and while Ms. Harding is being held accountable,

Starting point is 00:12:20 it does not return Mateo to his family or offer him the life he should have had the chance to live. On February 23, 2025, now 20-year-old Edwin pled guilty to one charge of aiding an offender, accomplice after the fact, and for helping to conceal Mateo's murder. In May of 2025, Edwin was sentenced to 74 months in prison with 145 days credit for time already served. Attorney Moriarty also spoke at Edwin's sentencing. She said, Mr. Trudeau attempted to help conceal a violent, heartbreaking act. All of our thoughts are with Mateo's family.

Starting point is 00:12:59 They should be getting ready to celebrate his second birthday, and instead, they're left with a lifetime of grief. Mr. Trudeau is being held accountable for his actions. Esperanza Harding and Edwin Trudeau are still being held in the Hennepin County Jail. It's unclear where or when they'll be moved to a more permanent facility in order to serve out the remainder of their sentences. In the wake of Mateo's death, his aunt, Emily Cazares, started to go-fund me to help with expenses. The caption written in both English and Spanish reads as follows. With our heart and our hands, we invite you to help our beloved baby.

Starting point is 00:13:35 boy who lost his life in the hands of a devastating decision. Our baby boy, Mateo Harding, was only seven months old when a person's wrongful choices took him away from us. He was a happy, sweet, and loving baby boy. On February 28, 2024, Mateo Harding had his life taken away by his mother who had previously taken him away from his loving father the year prior with law enforcement help. She had abandoned him for three months after giving birth and then came back looking for him after my brother, for him after my brother called the police.

Starting point is 00:14:07 They didn't help much and just decided to let her keep my nephew and proceeded to tell him he needed to go to court to get him back. Later on, she promised to do custody arrangements and co-parent. This woman took Mateo away with lies from his loving father who she had a custody arrangement with. Please, if you can help us with anything to help provide economic ease for funeral expenses once the remains of our sweet, beloved baby, are found. I am his aunt, and we are still holding on.

Starting point is 00:14:34 to his memory. We'll be using this money towards his funeral expenses and to find him. Please help us. Fundraiser is currently closed and to date it managed to raise $1,390. As of the day of this recording in May of 2025, Mateo Harding's body has never been recovered. Due to the amount of time that's passed, it's very unlikely that the sweet seven-month-old little boy will ever have a proper burial. He'll sadly join the ranks of many other children that we've discussed, whose parents decided that they were no better than garbage, and then treated them as such. Our next case brings us to Boca Raton, Florida. On May 9th, 2019, two maintenance workers heard a faint cry coming from a dumpster located at the Boca and Trotta apartment complex. They thought that it might be a kitten that had gotten trapped and couldn't make its way back out, so they went to have a look. but instead of a kitten, the two men found a newborn baby girl.

Starting point is 00:15:41 Her umbilical cord was still attached, and she had been wrapped in a plastic garbage bag, along with trash and coffee grounds. Understandably shaken, one of the men called 911. 911, what's the address of your emergency? Yes, there's a baby in a garbage. Baby in a garbage. It's a baby breathing.

Starting point is 00:15:59 I'm shaking. Let me speak to them one moment. The baby's in a dumpster, right? Yes, we pulled it out. It was in a garbage bag. He found a baby inside a dumpster and the baby is breathing. The baby was in a garbage bag. Please, hurry. Okay. All right. And how old is the baby appear to be? It's born. It's a newborn. It's still, the blood is still in there.

Starting point is 00:16:21 Is the umbilical cord still attached? Uh, yes, I believe so. Yes. Okay. And is it crying? It was crying. That's how we found out. You heard it crying because it was a cat. And we pulled up. Let's try your best just to wrap them in your arms, okay? Just the warmth from here.

Starting point is 00:16:43 We have police and paramedics coming to you, okay? Thank you. Thank you. The six-pound, eight-ounce baby girl was taken to the West Boka Medical Center and in a rarity when looking at cases like these. But very thankfully, she made a full recovery and was placed into the care of Florida's Department of Children and Families. Introducing Taco Bell's new jalapino citrus salsa

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Starting point is 00:18:08 looking for any clues that could lead them to the child's mother or whomever decided it was a good idea to throw a live newborn into the garbage. Now, under Florida law, newborns can be dropped off anonymously at a hospital or a fire station with no questions asked. And although laws have changed now, in 2019 where this actually took place, those wishing not to carry their pregnancies to term could do so up until the 15 week mark. It should be noted that we're not. We're not. We're not advocating for anything other than not throwing your baby in the trash, and that we're just sharing with you what the laws were at the time the crime occurred. The police noticed a trash bag in the same dumpster that looked similar to the one that the baby girl was found in and they decided

Starting point is 00:18:53 to search it. They located a bundle of napkins that contained a large amount of blood, as well as a receipt to a local beauty supply store. This singular receipt would prove to be their ace in the hole. The police paid a visit the beauty supply store and presented the clerks with a receipt that was located in the dumpster. To their surprise, the customer was known to them and the clerks were able to provide them with her name and home address. The customer was a 35-year-old Brazilian woman and local at-home nail technician named Rafael Elisandra Carballo Sousa, who lived in the apartment complex where the baby was located. With crime scene tape securing a back corner of the West spoke a apartment complex and ambulance took a woman from the complex escorted by a sheriff's

Starting point is 00:19:39 deputy. So far, deputies have not said who was inside that ambulance. The sheriff's office did announce they have detained a woman in connection with a one-day-old baby girl left at a nearby dumpster, her umbilical cord still attached. I would love for them to find whoever did that and speak with him. Isaac Sadaka says he was walking by the dumpster Wednesday morning and realized what a maintenance worker had just discovered. I saw the gentleman, the maintenance guy helping the baby and very crying a little bit. And I said, don't be sad. That's a baby you found?

Starting point is 00:20:15 I said, yeah, who would do something like that? I said somebody not full of love. A sheriff's lieutenant said the girl was as cute as a button, weighing six pounds, eight ounces. She's African American or Hispanic. I hope they found the mom and I hope they found somebody to take care of the baby. Although ABC 13 claimed to not know who was taken via ambulance to the hospital, CBS 12 managed to capture video of the incident. It was Raphael.

Starting point is 00:20:43 The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department arrested Raphael in charges of attempted felony murder in CA and booked her into the county jail. Following morning, she appeared before 15th Judicial Circuit Judge Ted Burras, along with a Portuguese translator where she was ordered to have no contact with her newborn. Through her translator, Raphael explained that she gave birth to her baby in her bathroom. She claimed that the baby was unresponsive and not breathing. But rather than call 911, Raphael waited for three hours before disposing of the child. She told the court that she returned to the dumpster two times to make sure the baby was dead,

Starting point is 00:21:40 but never approached the bag due to others being present nearby. However, this story doesn't make sense as the little girl was found crying the following morning. According to U.S. immigration and customs enforcement spokesman Brian Cox, Rafael did not have a valid visa and that the agency was planning to take her into custody and deport her back to Brazil once her criminal case was resolved. However, in January of 2020, Raphael and her lawyers attempted to have her voluntary confession thrown out. They claimed that she had not been read her Miranda rights properly before speaking with detectives. According to court documents, the deputy who also spoke Portuguese did not advise her Raphael that anything she said would be used against her in a court of law. However, prosecutors argued that the defendant was not in custody at the time of the questioning and therefore Miranda was not necessary. Judge Kirk Volker sided with the prosecution. We are following some breaking news at this hour in the case of the woman accused of putting her newborn baby inside a Boccarotone dumpster. A judge in this case has just denied Raphael Osses' motion to suppress

Starting point is 00:22:52 statements that she had made to police when they questioned her at her apartment that day. This basically means that her confession can now be used in the criminal case against her. The judge said since she was not in custody when she spoke with PBSO detectives that day after she gave birth to baby girl and then placed her in the dumpster, that the confession she made to the officers could be used in court. There's one last person we haven't heard from in this story, and that's Raphael's boyfriend, Carlos Jimenez-Martines. Carlos moved to Florida from Brazil with Raphael 10 years prior, and the two shared a three-year-old son. That son was whisked away by social services. According to the man,

Starting point is 00:23:35 he had no idea that his girlfriend was pregnant, let alone that she had given birth inside their apartment. Carlos worked full-time for a landscaping company, normally starting his shifts at around 7 a.m. At night, he took online courses. On the weekends, he would perform with a local samba band and participate in church activities. When Raphael gave birth, Carlos was supposedly asleep in their shared bed. The couple also had a roommate who was staying in the guest's bedroom, who was also clueless to what had occurred. When Carlos woke up the next morning, he claimed that his girlfriend was doing her usual morning routine, which included cooking breakfast and taking care of chores in the household.

Starting point is 00:24:14 In an interview, Carlos told reporters in Spanish, I feel two ways about her right now. I feel terribly sorry for her, and I feel furious at her. Why? Why didn't she tell me? I never would have let this happen. That little baby is my daughter. I never would have allowed her to be thrown away or even given away. Grona Carlos, he only found out what had occurred after he came home from work on the knife.

Starting point is 00:24:40 He said, she was sitting right there and she turns to me and says, I did it. She confessed to me. She said, this is my problem, not yours. I tell her, what did you do? Then I went to tell the police. Carlos struggled to make sense of what happened. He questioned whether or not Raphael even knew she was pregnant or not, or if she legitimately thought that she's had a stillbirth, adding, the other night we went out and we had a few drinks. Later, she got sick and was throwing up. I asked myself why she would be drinking if she knew she was pregnant. Either she didn't know or she was a horrible person. and she said the baby did not cry. She waited to see if the baby reacted, but it did not.

Starting point is 00:25:21 That's what she said when the police was here that day. I really don't know. For in Carlos, he wants custody of both of his children. When asked what he'd named the little girl, he said, I want to name her Sarah. It's a beautiful name. It's gentle and normal. Adding, we had a good life. We worked hard.

Starting point is 00:25:41 We always had our necessities. There was never a lack of food here. We could have welcomed a baby. On July 27, 2022, Raphael, who had previously pled not guilty, changed her plea. She was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail with credit for more than three years' time served. Following her release, she will have to serve five years of probation. As of the date of this recording in July of 2025,

Starting point is 00:26:08 it's unclear whether or not she'll be sent back to Brazil or not. Although both cases we discussed today are tragic, I will leave you with a happy ending. Carlos regained custody of both of his children, and he got his wish. He named his baby girl, Sarah. Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobil. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants

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The Misery Machine - The Cases of Mateo Harding & Baby Sarah

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