Minnesota Man Pleads Guilty to Killing His Infant Son
Fridley, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Minnesota man has admitted to a murder charge for causing the death of his infant son last year.
23-year-old Aaron Rathke today entered a guilty plea to a second-degree murder charge stemming from the death of 5-month-old Kaiden Rathke on March 1, 2023. The criminal complaint against the Fridley man indicates the infant died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
READ MORE: Minnesota Man Charged With Murdering Infant Son
The court document says the Anoka County Sheriff's Office responded that evening to a report of an unresponsive infant. The initial reports stated the baby had stopped breathing at his family's home in northern Twin Cities suburb. Officials say the parents of the child had driven him to the Fridley Police Department headquarters where officers performed CPR until the infant could be transported to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The charges say Rathke told investigators that he was alone with the baby when he stopped breathing. According to the criminal complaint, Rathke stated that he was able to get the infant to breathe again by pushing on his chest. He also told investigators that he was changing his son's diaper that evening when the baby began vomiting and then stopped breathing.
The court record also shows the mother of the deceased baby approached investigators last fall and blamed Rathke for her son's death. She alleged that the father would place pressure on the infant's throat so he could not breathe and then would "bring the child back" using chest compressions.
He entered the guilty plea to the second-degree murder charge this morning in Anoka County Court. Rathke's plea deal calls for a sentence of over 25 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
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