GREEN BAY (NBC26) — The great grandmother of 2-year-old Leo Escalante is sharing her heartbreak months after the toddler's death led to homicide charges against two men.
Meet Barbara Fish and hear how she wants the community to remember her great grandson in the video below:
"This is Leo's last drawing. He scribbled on the wall. He got a hold of a pen and he drew all over the wall. So, I don't wash it off. I keep it forever," Barbara Fish said inside her home Thursday afternoon.
Fish has been holding onto memories since her great grandson died in June. She showed NBC 26 reporter Pari Apostolakos photos of Leo she keeps on her wall.
"When he was born, his mom just got a job and he was brand new and she wouldn't leave him with anybody else but me and I loved him and kept him, and that's how I kept him all wrapped up and bundled up in my arms," Fish said while talking about a particular photograph.
Court records allege 22-year-old James Vanderleest, who had a relationship with Escalante's mother, was taking care of the child when he died. James is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, resisting or obstructing an officer and six counts of bail jumping in relation to Escalante's death.
James' father, David Vanderleest, is charged with harboring or aiding a felon and resisting or obstructing an officer after prosecutors say he escaped to a cabin in the woods with his son after the toddler died.
Fish said the loss has broken her family apart.
"My family, everybody that babysat for him and took care of him, that loved him and had fun with him, I don't like to look at them because they look at me and they cry," Fish said.
Fish hopes Leo's death can serve as a warning to protect other children.
"I vouch for all the babies ever, in the whole world that they never have to go through anything I am right now. Because it hurts like a sore and it'll never go away. Every morning I wait for him to get up and run around the corner and say 'Grandma.' I miss him so much," Fish said.
James is scheduled to appear in court in December. His father, David, is scheduled for a jury trial at the end of October.
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