Charges upgraded to murder for aunt accused of pushing 3-year-old nephew into Lake Michigan

Charges have been upgraded to murder against a woman accused of pushing her 3-year-old nephew into Lake Michigan near Navy Pier Sept. 19.

Victoria Moreno threw Josiah Brown into the water and watched as he sank below, where divers found him about 30 minutes later, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Josiah was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition. He died Sept. 25, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Moreno, 34, was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery to a child and was ordered held without bail. The murder charges were announced Tuesday.

On the morning of Sept. 19, Moreno stole the keys to the family’s truck in Des Plaines and “snuck out of the residence without anyone knowing that she had left,” prosecutors said.

She was not allowed to drive the car because she takes medication for “mental health issues” and because of an incident a week earlier when she took Josiah and several other children to Navy Pier, prosecutors said.

After shoving Josiah in the water, Moreno walked several feet away and stood on the sidewalk, “doing nothing,” while passersby called 911 and threw a life preserver in the water, prosecutors said.

In bond court Tuesday, Moreno’s attorney disputed the claim that Moreno intentionally pushed the child into the water, and said she was standing over Josiah when he fell — “which does not necessarily preclude an accident.”

Moreno has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, according to her attorney. She receives treatment from two hospitals and has been on medication for seven years.

But Judge Susana Ortiza noted, “I do find that mental illness, which may contribute to the defendant’s inability to control her thoughts or actions, makes her a danger to the community, to these children who she lived with within this home with this family and to all children in general.”

Moreno again was ordered held without bail.