Jesse Vang goes on trial for the death of three-year-old Elijah Vue

MANITOWOC, Wis. (WBAY) – A judge has found probable cause to commit Jesse Vang to trial.

Vang, the boyfriend of Elijah Vue's mother, Katrina Baur, appeared in court Wednesday for his preliminary hearing on new charges in the case.

Vang and Katrina Baur are both charged in the toddler's death. Vang is charged with two felony counts of repeated physical abuse of a child resulting in death and concealing a corpse. Elijah's body was discovered in September by a person checking on their property before hunting season, just a few miles from Vang's home.

Jesse Vang's defense attorney contested his preliminary hearing Wednesday, forcing the state to call witnesses to the stand to prove its case against Vang in order to advance these charges through the justice system.

The state called two special agents to the stand to testify. The first part described videos, photos, and several messages between Vang and Elijah's mother related to Elijah's punishment for alleged bad behavior.

Due to the nature of the descriptions, Action 2 News is not going into graphic details, but we have previously reported on the punishment investigators say 3-year-old Vue suffered while in Vang's care.

The defense denied the allegations of physical abuse, arguing there was no evidence that making a child stand for 1 to 3 hours or repeating sentences endangers his or her physical health. The defense argued for the charges to be dismissed on the grounds that the state had been unable to provide information about how the child died.

When questioned by the state, one of the special agents revealed that the property owner where the remains were found had hired Vang for a pressure washing job back in 2023. Additionally, one of the agents revealed that he found Vang's Google search history with map data zoomed in on an area near where the remains were recovered.

Ultimately, the judge found enough probable cause and committed Vang to trial.

Jesse Vang's arraignment is scheduled for November 18 at 11:30 a.m

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