A Moorhead, Minnesota woman has been charged with murder in the death of her 20-month-old son.
The woman, 32, was charged with second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony, according to court documents filed in Clay County on Friday.
According to the criminal complaint, the Cass County coroner told police during the night of May 15 that the woman brought the boy to the hospital. The boy died around 11:05 p.m. despite life-saving measures by medical staff.
The coroner reported to police that the boy had bruising, charges say. Investigators who later examined his body also noticed bruising and that his belly was swollen.
Court documents say an autopsy showed the boy died from complications of a blunt force injury due to an assault, noting contusions throughout his body and rib fractures. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death a homicide.
The woman told police she is the mother of three children, including the boy, and they all live in Moorhead with her partner.
Charges say the woman initially told officers the boy was vomiting on the morning of May 15. She allegedly gave him Tylenol and some Gatorade, and then ran some errands with them and her partner
The woman told police that the boy "basically" slept all day and was not acting like himself. She then told her partner that they should take him to a doctor, charges say. They stopped at Walmart to get some Pedialyte, with the boy and her partner staying in the vehicle.
While the woman was inside the store, her partner came in and said the boy was vomiting blood. The women told police they then "sped" to the hospital, court documents say.
She told police she was aware of the bruising on the boy, and said he bruises easily.
Police said she changed her story as to how sick the boy was before the hospital visit when officers asked her more questions, charges say. She said the boy started vomiting on May 14, and that the vomit started out as "normal," then gradually changed to a black or dark substance.
Investigators spoke with neighbors and friends who saw the boy "at various times" on May 15. Witnesses said they told the woman to bring the boy to the hospital, charges say. One of the woman's children, who also spoke with police, said she got home from school sometime between 4:30 and 5 p.m. and "immediately" saw the boy needed medical care. The woman told her child she would take the boy to the hospital after her partner came home.
The child who spoke to police was holding the boy at one point, and was scared he was going to die in their arms, according to court documents.
In a later interview with police, the woman said she did not hurt the boy, though she admitted to being afraid to take him in for medical care because it was "obviously neglect," and thought social services would take her children away, charges say.
Surveillance video from Walmart shows the woman, the boy and her partner arriving at the store around 10:12 p.m.
Note: The video above originally aired May 16, 2025.
To report concerns about child abuse, neglect or sexual abuse, the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families recommends contacting the county or Tribal Nation where the child lives. You can find a list of Minnesota's county and tribal child protection agencies by clicking here. If there is an immediate concern of harm to the child, the agency recommends calling 911.