Mom Hides in Court After Stuffing Son's Body in Cooler: Police

It is a heartbreaking case out of. Lynwood, [music] California. A little. boy's body found inside a cooler packed. with ice. Prosecutors say 8-year-old. Isaiah suffered months of horrific abuse. before [music] his death at the hands of. the very people who were supposed to. protect him. His own mother, father, and. grandmother. And now all three are. charged with murder and torture. But. when it came time to face [music] a. judge, two of them didn't even show up. initially. The only one who did Isaiah's.

mother hiding her [music] face behind. Manila folders in court. We are going to. break down what happened, the charges. they're facing, and more with an [music]. expert attorney to help make sense of. how something so tragic could happen. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. All right, real quick. Not to take away. from this story in any way, but the. truth is we can bring you stories like. this. We can do a deep dive on stories. like this because of the support that we.

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box when you go to wildgrain.com/sidebar. to start your subscription. That's. right, free quissants in every box and. $30 off of your first box when you go to. wildgrain.comside. That's wildgrain.com/sidebar. or you can use promo code side cybar at. checkout. Do not miss out on their. seasonal products. A little boy's body. found inside a cooler filled with ice in. a Lynwood, California apartment complex. Prosecutors say 8-year-old Isaiah. suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands.

of the very people who were supposed to. be protecting him. His own mother, father, and grandmother. All three. They're now charged with murder, torture, and child abuse resulting in. death. Now, initially, when the first. court dates rolled around on October. 31st, the father, Daniel Monzone, refused to appear. The grandmother, Anna. Caramo Zarceno, claimed she was too. sick, so you only had Isaiah's mother, Destiny Lucky Harrison, who appeared in. court for her scheduled appearance. The.

problem with that was hit her face from. cameras behind these Manila folders that. were held up by her defense attorney. Now, since then, both Monzone and. Zareno, they have made their first court. appearances. But the part that is even. more chilling is that investigators say. learning basic details about Isaiah, it. has not been easy. It has been. challenging. The boy may have never been. enrolled in school. Officials are still. trying to confirm his true age, his. identity, because the people accused of. killing him are the same ones who should.

have had all of his records. Police. believe he's 8 years old, but they don't. know for sure. So, we're going to break. down what happened inside that. courtroom, what these charges mean, how. a child could seemingly endure months, maybe years of abuse without anyone. stepping in if these allegations are. true. Story begins in late October. We're inside of an apartment complex in. Lynwood, California. It's a small. community just south of Los Angeles. And. in the morning of Tuesday, October 28th,

neighbors in an apartment complex on. Uklid Avenue, they started to worry. They hadn't seen the little boy who. lived there in days. And when someone. finally picked up the phone and called. the Los Angeles County Sheriff's. Department, deputies had no idea what. they were about to find. When officers. arrived at around 8:30 p.m., they were. led into the home and what they found. stopped them in their tracks. Inside the. apartment was a large cooler that was. packed with ice. And inside that cooler,

the body of a young child. He was. identified as Isaiah H, believed to be 8. years old. According to investigators, Isaiah hadn't even died that day. Prosecutors say he had already succumbed. to injuries four days earlier on October. 24th and that his death was the result. of months of abuse inside of that very. home. Within hours, the three family. members they were taken into custody. again. 25-year-old Destiny Lucky.

Harrison, Isaiah's mother, 25-year-old. Daniel Alberto Monzone, his father, and. 45-year-old Anna Caramo Zareno, his. paternal grandmother. The Los Angeles. County District Attorney's Office. charged all three with murder, torture, and child abuse resulting in death. The. cause of death, by the way, has not yet. been released. The charging document. lays out in stark language what. prosecutors say happened. It reads, "Hon. or between October 23rd, 2025 and.

October 24th, 2025 in the county of Los. Angeles, the crime of murder in. violation of penal code section 187A, a. felony was committed by Destiny Lucky. Harrison, Daniel Alberto Monzone, and. Anna Caramo Zareno, who did unlawfully. and with malice of forethought, murder. Isaiah H, a human being." Prosecutors. also claimed that Monzone and Zareno. acted as accessories after the fact, suggesting they may have tried to cover. up what happened. But here's where it.

gets even worse. According to the. criminal complaint reviewed by local. media, the alleged abuse didn't start. just days before the body was. discovered. It dates all the way back to. at least April of this year, suggesting. months months of suffering before. Isaiah's death. In a statement, District. Attorney Nathan J. Hawkman called this. case horrific, saying, "The horrific. abuse that Isaiah endured is made even. worse by the fact that as alleged, it. was at the hands of the people who were. meant to love and protect him." Our.

office is committed to ensuring that. those responsible are held fully. accountable for their actions and that. justice will be secured for Isaiah. Now, meanwhile, detectives, they were still. learning more about the child's life or, you know, in some ways uncovering the. lack of information, right? They said. there were no school records showing. that Isaiah had ever attended classes. The DA's office added that even. confirming his exact age has been a. challenge because both parents, the two. people who could identify him, they're. now accused of killing him. Can they. really be trusted? After the discovery,

three other children, ages 16, 14, and. nine months, were taken from that same. apartment by the LA County Department of. Children and Family Services. and. prosecutors said that at least one of. them was a witness in this case. Then. came Halloween, October 31st, 2025, arraignment day in Compton. All three. defendants were due in court. But when. the judge called the case, only one. showed up. According to officials, the. father, Monzone, refused to appear. His.

mother, the grandmother here, is areno. claimed she was too sick. And then you. have this mother, Miss Harrison, did. come to court. The moment she stepped in. front of the cameras became one of the. most talked about images in the case. because as reporters watched, Harrison's. defense attorney held up this manila. folders, these manila folders in front. of her face, shielding her from view. The mother accused of torturing and. killing her own son, sitting in court, completely hidden behind a wall of. paper. Each defendant's bail was set at.

$2 million. And if convicted, they faced. up to 32 years to life in prison. case. is being prosecuted by assistant head. deputy DA Jonathan Hatami, who's handled. some of LA's toughest and most emotional. child abuse cases. He said his office is. committed to ensuring that justice is. done for Isaiah and that those. responsible are quote held fully. accountable for their actions. So, for. now, the three remain behind bars as. investigators continue to piece together. how a little boy could have suffered so.

much for so long without anyone stepping. in to save him. Right? If these. allegations are true, how is that. possible? And as the story unfolds, there is one haunting question that. remains. How many people knew something. was wrong and said nothing? So, I want. to talk about this more and I want to. bring on criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor Josh Corman. Uh Josh, thanks for taking the time. This is a. tough case. Um, you're hearing this a.

child accused uh where you have not just. one but several caregivers, family. members accused of abusing this small. child. I mean, the people who were. supposed to protect him for a long. period of time. This abuse went on. That's what the allegation is. It's kind. of hard to kind of wrap your head around. this. Is this something we see a lot? You know, it's one thing to say that. it's a babysitter or it's a father or. mother, but to see this many family. members accused of being a part of this,

is that unusual to you? >> I think the facts of this case are are. unusual, especially when you're talking. about, you know, a a victim being found. uh in a cooler, you know, with ice. Sounds like several days after the the. child was deceased. As far as who is. charging this, I think most of the time. we do see that it is someone who is in. charge of caring for a child, whether. that be a parent, a grandparent, or um. you know, mom's boyfriend. Those are. sadly those are the kind of things that. we do often see when we see these child.

abuse uh murder cases. And what do they. just blame each other? One says, "Oh, I. wasn't I didn't know what was going on. This is the person who put the the the. child in the cooler. I I was nervous to. come forward. I thought my life was. threatened." And I know they're innocent. until proven guilty, but I mean, is that. really what we see here? I think that's. oftentimes what you see, especially when. you have multiple people charged in this. is is multiple people are going to be. pointing the finger at each other and. during the course of this investigation. and during the course of the litigation,

you know, the attorneys that are. representing them are going to be. talking to the prosecutor and that very. well may end up being what happens where. one of the parents or one of the. guardians is ultimately the person who. is fully prosecuted while the other one. or the other two may end up cooperating. um to give some background or to give. some evidence or like you said, I guess. in a trial, they could just be pointing. the finger at each other and say, you. know, it wasn't me. He was doing this. You know, could be the mother saying. that she was the victim of domestic. violence and she was also being abused.

And, you know, there's all kinds of. things um we can, you know, try to think. of depending on what these people have. to say and what the defenses may be in. in this particular case. But those are. the kinds of things that we often see uh. in these situations. And definitely a. cooperating codefendant would definitely. be useful for a prosecution, particularly a prosecution like this. But before we even get into the case, I'm sorry. I just got to back up. The. images from court of Destiny Harrison. hiding behind the Manila folders that.

were apparently put up by her defense. attorney. I can't say I've seen that uh. myself too many times. I mean, what does. it say about the a defendant's awareness. of the case? Does it give you a mindset. of how they're feeling? Does it give you. is it consciousness of guilt as we say? Um and by the way a defendant's attorney. helping them do that. Is that strange to. you? >> It was strange. You know what we. normally see is you know when someone. goes through you know the perp walk. right you see people walking into the. courthouse and oftentimes you do see. them with you know a hood over their.

head a jacket over their head trying to. cover themselves you know from the. media. I don't know that I've ever seen. something like that in a courtroom or a. defense attorney holding up files trying. to cover her client's face. But, um, you. know, to each her own, I guess she. thought that that was uh was necessary. or was needed in this. I think it was. also strange the little bit that I read. about it. It sounds like the other two. defendants did not come into the. courtroom. And I I don't believe that. that was the the fault of the courthouse. personnel. sounds like they were either.

refusing um or there were some issues. with them actually appearing in court. themselves. So, it sounds like all three. of them wanted to hide their faces and. hide their identity. >> And by the way, I mean, if a potential. future jury member were to see this, see. the the media reporting about her hiding. her face, um I'm sure they would be. asked about that. I'm sure they would. ask what they knew about the case, but. it just doesn't, you know, it does it. doesn't it's not a good look, right? It. really looks bad. And and I think it's.

an interesting aspect of this case. because there's a lot of weird things. going on here. Aside from kind of a lack. of information we have about what this. alleged abuse might have looked like or. what may have happened. You have a child. that we have very little information. about, right? We don't really know the. age. This child may never have been. enrolled in school. Officials don't know. the official age or identity. Is that. different to you? I mean, how shocking. is that?

>> I can't say that I've ever seen that. before. I mean, it makes sense that if. the um defendants charged, you know, are. the parents and the parents, you know, invoke their rights or or don't speak or. asked to have an attorney present. without making a statement that it may. be somewhat difficult for them to get. some basic information. But you're. right, a child who it sounds like is. eight years old and should have been in. school. Um, and it sounds like there's. two other teenagers that were living in. the house at the time. It it does seem. very strange that they don't have more. information on the identity um of of.

this child, of this 8-year-old child. >> Yeah. Doesn't And let me focus upon that. for a second. If you have a child who. wasn't enrolled in school, is that. evidence of neglect? Is that evidence of. abuse? Is that uh evidence that could be. used in court to document what the. pattern of care look like here or the. lack of care? >> Well, I mean it is illegal not to send. your your child to school. I mean that. is truency is a law and you're exactly. right. You know, under the neglect. statutes, educational neglect um is.

certainly a form of of child abuse and. neglect. So, I think those are things. that could they could certainly be um. brought out or fleshed out in a trial or. certainly in the discovery process. And. and it very well could be that um this. child may have been abused for for. months or years and that very well could. explain why this child doesn't show up. in any school records. Or like I say, it. could be that the child had been in. school, had been in school last week, um. but law enforcement or the DA's office.

just had not disclosed that information. for whatever reason. Um, but you're. exactly right. I think there are so many. so many issues and so many kind of red. flags or so many oddities uh in this. case notwithstanding the fact that it's. just a a horrible crime anytime we see a. child victim. You know, this is a. heartbreaking case and you wonder I I. wish it doesn't go to trial in one sense. because you don't even want to have to. prosecute a case like this, expose jury. uh members to the evidence in a case.

like this. Uh it's going to be very very. difficult. But there's also this other. aspect where you think. the witnesses who will have to testify. because three other kids were taken into. protective custody and it's being. reported that maybe one of them may have. been a witness. Maybe one or more may. have been a witness to what happened. here and them having to testify about. this. That's another chilling aspect of. this case. I wonder how that affects the. investigation. I wonder how that affects.

understanding what may have happened. And yes, you you will there may be a. situation where you have a child who. takes the stand, right? >> It is and I think it's a concern for. both sides. You're right. For a. prosecutor, um, that's something that. they're always going to be thinking. about is when they have to present. evidence to prove their case in court, you know, how much are you going to rely. on on a child uh to testify to give some. of these details or if it gets to the. point where they're, you know, there's. negotiations or a plea deal against. another parent or a grandparent, you.

know, what kind of deal do you want to. give them um in exchange for their. cooperation to go after one of the other. parents or parents? Um, so I think for a. prosecutor that's certainly going to be. um an issue that they're going to have. to deal with. But then you're right, for. the defense, you know, there's only so. much that a jury can handle hearing. before they just kind of give up on the. facts of the case. Um, and it's just too. much for them to to bear really looking. at the pieces of evidence, which as a. defense attorney is what you really want. a jury looking at. So, for the jury, it.

may just be that this is um it's just. too extreme and this is something that. you're going to do whatever you can to. try to get some kind of plea agreement. worked out for your client because you. do not want a jury to ever get to see u. the evidence or hear some of the things. that that may come out if there the case. went to trial. >> And I wanted to ask you about these uh. these charges here because all three. defendants, they face murder, torture, and child abuse resulting in death. charges. Can you break down what those. charges mean? Why uh those specific.

charges um that they're facing? >> So, I think often times when you have. these child abuse cases, there'll be a. murder charge because obviously the the. child is deceased. Um felony murder. means that the someone died as a result. of an underlying felony. So, that could. be from a lot of different things. It. could be, you know, a carjacking gone. wrong and someone died in it or a house. set on fire for arson and someone died. Those are things where maybe the um the. death was not an intended unintended.

consequence. However, the underlying. felony was and so that qualifies as. felony murder. So, it could be easier. for a prosecutor sometimes to prove. felony murder uh than than an underlying. just murder um case itself. And I. believe they were also charged in this. with accessory after the fact. um which. again goes to the grandmother and the. father that there was something that. they did um afterwards um that added. another charge to it and. >> right. >> whether that's uh you know some kind of. a fake alibi or [snorts] trying to hide.

someone out or the what we see with this. evidence of a cooler um for whatever. reason that is a charge that got added. which is a certainly a much lower charge. I think it only carries maybe up to. three years in prison um but for. whatever reason the prosecutors have. decided to to add that charge and charge. that in addition on the the father and. the and the grandmother. >> I just want to clarify something. When. when you have a case like this where. it's built upon prolonged abuse over a. period of time, how do prosecutors do. that? How do they piece together a.

timeline that can prove that? Um if if. maybe I mean what can be discovered from. a house a scene that would suggest or or. the autopsy itself where you can say hey. listen we can prove that this child. suffered abuse for a long period of time. and it was that abuse that caused the. death. I mean is that become difficult? How do you piece that together as a. prosecutor? So I think it can be. difficult and that's where the medical. examiner comes in and and I at this. point in time I don't know that the. medical examiner's report had been um.

issued to the prosecutor but certainly. in doing the autopsy you know there are. injuries that they will find that they. can say are healing injuries or they can. give a rough estimate about how long ago. that injury occurred based on you know. um like a like a broken bone for. instance or a broken leg. you know, they. could tell if that was something that. was fresh or if that's something that. had been months ago or even years ago. based on the the healing stage of it. So, um, sometimes the testimonies of the.

medical examiners is is actually, you. know, quite amazing for the information. they can give. Although it's not like. what we see on TV and Law and Order. where they can give an idea that, oh, this person was was killed, you know, within the last 12 hours or something. like that. Most of the time, um, that's. not something that they're able to do at. all. But in these in these child abuse. cases, looking at the injuries, whether. it's, you know, to the liver or the. spleen or broken bones, it is kind of. amazing the amount of detail and. information that they're able to see. when they do an autopsy or even if a.

child is not deceased from CT scans and. X-rays and MRIs, um the injuries that. they're able to find and give. information about um is crucial to a. prosecutor because you're right, otherwise there really isn't any way to. to. um I guess present that evidence to a. jury unless you have another witness. And again, that comes back to, you know, the other child that was in the house or. one of these codefendants testifying and. giving up information about what had. been going on and what specifically and.

who did what. >> And Josh, I want to go back to something. uh that I mentioned before before we. began the interview. So, while you have. these defendants, while you have Destiny. Lucky Harrison and Anna uh Caramo. Zareno, they're scheduled for Raymond on. November 20th. You have Daniel Alberto. Monzone on November 25th, their case. moving forward. I go to the question. that I had before. Is it possible there were more people. out there that knew something was going. on and did not say anything? I wonder.

about that in a lot of these kinds of. child abuse cases or alleged child abuse. cases. Um and and what we should be. thinking about there. >> I think you're exactly right. In all. these child abuse cases and neglect. cases that we see, it seems that there. always should be more people that either. knew what was going on or should have. known what was going on or should have. made some kind of a report, whether that. was a DCS hotline call or something. You. know, we're all mandatory reporters. under the law. So, anytime you see.

something or suspect something, um, we. should be contacting children's services. to do a welfare check or find out. It. sounds like that's how this case finally. came to fruition is that someone made a. welfare check and law enforcement got. involved. So, you know, in this I don't. know enough about their family to to. say, but it seems that other people, other neighbors, other family members, um, you know, whether church or school. or or other people in the community. certainly should have known something or. seen something as well as the the.

teenagers that were in the house. Um, so. you would hope that anytime something um. certainly gets to this level, this bad, that someone would would step in and do. something and make a report, but you're. right, in countless cases that you and I. have talked about or that I have seen in. court, um, it is kind of a travesty that. that people don't come forward and try. to do something to help before it it. reaches the level of either serious. child abuse or or death like in this. case. >> Josh Corman, thanks for taking the time. I know this is not an easy one to go.

over, but appreciate your perspective as. always. >> My pleasure. Thanks for having me. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can follow me on X. or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.