A Livingston Parish father has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the death of his 5-year-old son, who prosecutors say was repeatedly beaten with punches and charging cords and starved before he was found unresponsive at the family's Albany home. Joseph Eslinger pleaded no contest on Monday to manslaughter in the death of Leonardo “Leo” Eslinger, who died days later at a New Orleans hospital.
According to The Advocate, Leo was found unresponsive at Eslinger's home in Albany on Dec. 28, 2023, and died three days later at a New Orleans hospital on New Year's Eve. An autopsy report determined his death was a homicide. Prosecutors said Leo suffered multiple brain bleeds, malnutrition, and bruises and laceration marks covering his body, including his face.
Leo was born in Evansville, Indiana, on Nov. 22, 2018, according to his obituary from Boone Funeral Home, and he had just turned 5 when he died at New Orleans Children's Hospital. Law enforcement discovered Leo after responding to a report of a child not breathing, per court filings cited in the report.
Prosecutors Say Leo Was Singled Out
Amanda Liotto, the assistant district attorney for the 21st Judicial District who prosecuted the case, said Eslinger and his partner, Diana Lopez, actively participated in the abuse of Leo. Prosecutors believe Leo was singled out because the couple thought he was different from his younger siblings, who were 3 years old and 10 months old at the time and were not subjected to the physical abuse inflicted upon Leo, the outlet's report notes.
Eslinger told investigators that Leo had recently been sick and refused to talk or eat, according to a probable cause affidavit referenced in the same account. He did not seek medical attention for his son, per that same affidavit. Liotto said Leo's loss weighed heavily on her heart and that his life mattered.
Charge Reduced From First-Degree Murder
Eslinger was initially indicted for first-degree murder, which carries potential life imprisonment, before the case resolved with his no-contest plea to manslaughter and the 40-year sentence, which Liotto described as the maximum for that charge. He is also expected to plead guilty to obstruction of justice in November, a charge that will likely carry an additional five-year sentence, the report states.
Eslinger's defense attorney, Latoia Williams-Simon, said her client apologized in court and said he hoped his family could forgive him. Eslinger's mother and aunt, who now care for Leo's younger siblings, delivered statements about the case's impact on their family during the court proceedings.
Co-Defendant Faces Separate Murder Charge
Lopez was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Leo's death and is scheduled for her next court hearing in November. The Advocate's report notes that Eslinger and Lopez were identified as 29 years old in its coverage, while a separate 2024 report from WAFB identified both as 26 years old at the time of their arrests; the discrepancy has not been reconciled in available records.
Louisiana law defines manslaughter, in part, as a homicide that would otherwise qualify as murder but is instead committed in sudden passion or heat of blood immediately caused by sufficient provocation, according to the Louisiana State Legislature. The state's first-degree murder statute, by contrast, begins by defining the offense simply as the killing of a human being, per the legislature's published code.
Eslinger's 40-year sentence mirrors another Louisiana manslaughter case decided this month. In Natchitoches Parish, Destiny Reese, 32, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received the same maximum 40-year sentence at hard labor in connection with the March 2024 beating death of a man from Provencal, according to the Natchitoches Parish Journal. In that case, the judge weighed a pre-sentence investigation and victim-impact statements before issuing the sentence.
