Police: Mother Charged In Baby's Death Sets Self On Fire
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A mother who was recently charged with accidentally suffocating her infant son while drunk has died after setting herself on fire, police said.
Last month, 29-year-old Toni Medrano, of Cottage Grove, was charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter in the Nov. 22 death of her 3-week-old son.
According to the criminal complaint, Medrano came home that day after having consumed a fifth of vodka and went to sleep on the couch. Her son was lying between her and the back of the couch, police said.
She awoke the next morning to find the child unresponsive. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's office listed the official cause of death as "asphyxia due to being laid upon while sleeping with an adult."
Medrano was measured with a 0.11 blood alcohol content level at 11 a.m. that morning.
On July 2, St. Paul Park Police and an ambulance from Cottage Grove responded to a medical emergency on the 1300 block of Chicago Avenue.
Authorities said Medrano was found suffering serious, life-threatening burns. She was taken to Regions Hospital, but died as a result of her injuries.
Investigators said Medrano was despondent and suicidal, and had doused herself with a flammable liquid before setting herself on fire.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner is still investigating her death.
If Medrano had been convicted of the charges she faced, she could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
