Murder trial delayed for dad in 3-year-old son's death

David Creato Jr. appears at Camden County Superior Court, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, for his murder trial in Camden, N.J. A judge has agreed to delay the murder trial of Creato, a father accused of killing his son. (Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice.com via AP, Pool) (The Associated Press)

David Creato Jr., center, exits Camden County Superior Court, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Camden, N.J. A judge has agreed to delay the murder trial of Creato, a father accused of killing his son. (Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Lisa Creato, the mother of David Creato Jr., appears in Camden County Superior Court, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Camden, N.J. A judge has agreed to delay the murder trial of Creato, the father accused of killing his son. (Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, Pool) (The Associated Press)

A judge has agreed to delay the murder trial of a New Jersey father accused of killing his 3-year-old son because he had become an impediment to his relationship with a teenage girlfriend.

David Creato Jr.'s trial was scheduled to start Monday. But the judge agreed to reschedule it for Jan. 9 after Creato's attorney sought more time to obtain a report from an expert witness, a forensic medical examiner.

Creato has pleaded not guilty to murder and child endangerment charges. He remains jailed on $750,000 bail.

Camden County prosecutors have said Creato's son, Brendan, suffered "homicidal violence."

They say the 23-year-old Haddon Township man killed Brendan last October and then reported him missing, prompting a townwide search.

Prosecutors say Creato's girlfriend had resented dealings with the child's mother.