Elijah Vue’s mother seeks new attorney before 2027 trial

MANITOWOC – Katrina A. Baur, mother of 3-year-old Elijah Vue, who was killed in 2024, has asked Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Lambrecht to appoint a new defense attorney in her case.

If granted, the request could affect how Baur’s defense prepares for the joint 2027 trial with Jesse Vang, who faces charges including child abuse causing death and hiding a corpse, and potentially shape the timeline for one of Manitowoc County‘s most closely watched criminal cases.

In the letter she sent to Lambrecht, Baur said there “has been a complete breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” and that her attorney, Amber Gratz, is not adequately preparing the case for the upcoming trial in 2027.

“For many months, I have repeatedly asked my attorney to begin preparing for trial,” Baur wrote. “Despite those requests, she has consistently refused to meaningfully discuss or prepare a trial strategy with me. To this day, I have not been informed of any trial strategy, and I have no reason to believe one has been developed.”

Gratz, an attorney with Fox River Law in Appleton, was appointed to Baur’s case through the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office.

As of July 8, no response to the request from Gratz was filed with Baur’s court documents, but a motion hearing to discuss the request has been set for July 13.

Baur and Jesse Vang, 41, are scheduled for a joint jury trial starting April 14, 2027, on charges related to Elijah’s death and the hiding of his body.

The toddler disappeared in February 2024, and his remains were found Sept. 7, 2024, by civilians on private property a little more than 3 miles from where Elijah had disappeared. Prosecutors said Baur intentionally sent her 3-year-old son to live with Vang, her boyfriend, in Two Rivers for “disciplinary reasons.”

Baur is facing felony charges of chronic neglect of a child in which the consequence is death and neglecting a child. She is also charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer.

She pleaded not guilty to all charges during an arraignment Oct. 30, 2024. She is being held in the Manitowoc County Jail on a $400,000 cash bond.

Baur’s case is being heard by Lambrecht and prosecuted by District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre.

Vang is charged in Vue’s death and with hiding his body on wooded private property near Two Rivers for several months before it was found by civilians.

Vang faces felony charges of child abuse causing death, hiding a corpse and chronic neglect of a child, along with a misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing an officer.

His case is also being heard by Lambrecht and prosecuted by LaBre. Attorneys Joel Mogren and Jeffrey Jensen Sr. are representing Vang.

He is being held in the Manitowoc County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond.