Kristopher Henderson Mankato Minnesota father charged with murder of his baby daughter after initially blaming family cat for forcible trauma injuries.
A Minnesota man has been charged with the murder of his baby daughter after allegedly blaming the family cat for leaving her with broken legs, bleeding on the brain and broken ribs.
Mankata father charged with baby daughter murder after blaming family cat
Kristopher Henderson, 39, is accused of inflicting the debilitating injuries on his two-month-old daughter at their Mankato home in September, the Mankato Free Press reported.
Notice of the egregious injuries came after the infant’s parents took the two month old to local hospital on September 23 for treatment. Due to the severity of the infant’s injuries, medical personnel reportedly decided to transfer the child to a facility in Rochester for additional treatment.
On Sept. 29, medical providers disclosed that the child’s ‘recovery was grim.’ By Oct. 8, the child’s condition hadn’t changed and end of life conversations were going on. The child eventually fatally succumbed to her injuries earlier this month.
‘Eyes bulging out of her head’
She had ‘little to no brain activity’ before she was pronounced dead on Nov. 3, according to court documents cited by CBS Minnesota.
In an interview with investigators, the mother reportedly said that her daughter was fine before she left home for work earlier that day. She said she fed the child in the morning before putting her back down to sleep and leaving. She said she worked until approximately 6 p.m. but reportedly noted that Henderson texted her at around 5 p.m. to inform her that he had caught the family’s 19-pound cat ‘laying on’ the baby. Henderson did not tell her to come home and check on the child.
Upon returning home, the mother reportedly told police that her daughter’s eyes looked like they were ‘bulged out’ of her head. The mother said she called her own mother and after discussing the child’s condition, decided to bring her to the emergency room just on 7pm.
Police said Henderson had initially tried to blame the family’s cat for the injuries.
It wasn’t until Oct. 1, according to the criminal complaint that Henderson admitted cradling the child face down in his arms and striking her back for five minutes.
The father admitted hitting the infant forcefully on her back for five minutes ‘to try and quiet her.’
Henderson acknowledged that he hit the girl enough to break her ribs, police said.
The father was initially charged with first-degree assault but it was upgraded to second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony and first-degree manslaughter while committing malicious punishment of a child in the wake of the girl’s death.
He is being held on a $1 million.
The baby’s official cause of death is still pending the autopsy results.
