Red Wing man charged with manslaughter in 2-month-old baby's death
RED WING, Minn. -- A 27-year-old Red Wing man faces a set of manslaughter charges for his alleged role in the death of an 8-week-old baby boy.
Hunter McCutchen is charged with two counts of first-degree manslaughter, two counts of second-degree manslaughter, and one count of child endangerment.
According to the criminal complaint, the boy's mother called police on Tuesday shortly after noon, saying her baby was not breathing. Officers arrived to a "very traumatic" scene; McCutchen walked into the kitchen, holding the boy who was "not responsive and light blue in color."
The baby was taken to the emergency room, where EMS staff continued life-saving efforts for one hour, before he was airlifted to a hospital in Rochester. X-rays of the baby showed rib fractures and bleeding in the brain, charges say.
A child abuse pediatrician interviewed the baby's mother that evening. The mother said her baby "looked well" when she left home to drop her 4-year-old daughter off at preschool that morning. When she returned around noon, she said the boy was limp and "pale and blue in color."
She said she'd recently noticed bruising on the baby's body, and had taken photos on her phone, documents say. The doctor looked at the photos and determined that he was a victim of abusive head trauma, which is injury to a baby that involves shaking or impact beyond normal care.
Later, during a post-Miranda interview, the woman said she'd considered leaving McCutchen because he uses marijuana every day, drinks alcohol frequently, and had been violent towards her in the past resulting in criminal domestic assault charges against him. She said she had cameras in their apartment because he'd cheated on her and lied about it, charges state.
The complaint goes on to say that the woman called an officer the next day, saying that McCutchen had told her he had "hurt him," referring to the boy, and said he was responsible for the infant's dire medical condition.
She recorded part of their conversation, in which McCutchen admitted he "shook him once" and "put [his] hand over his mouth."
The baby was pronounced dead on Thursday. An autopsy is pending.
McCutchen is in custody at Goodhue County Jail.
For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.