Aunt Who Shoved 3-Year-Old Nephew Off Navy Pier Now Charged With Murder: Reports

CHICAGO, IL — A Des Plaines woman accused of pushing her 3-year-old nephew off Navy Pier and into Lake Michigan last month is now charged with murder after the child died, according to reports.

Victoria Moreno, 34, of the 900 block of Greenview Avenue, shoved the boy into the water Sept. 19 and did not try to rescue him, police said, adding the child was pulled from the lake by emergency personnel and taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition.

It took divers about 30 minutes to find the boy, named Josiah Brown, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, which reported Brown died nearly a week later. The child suffered cardiac arrest, WGN reported, and had a swollen brain, bleeding in his lungs, seizures and a depressed heart, according to FOX 32.

The day of the incident, Moreno stole the keys to a family truck and snuck away, the Sun-Times reported, noting Moreno suffers from mental health issues and had taken Josiah and a group of other children to the pier the previous week. She is being held without bond, according to jail records.