Minn. Man Gets 15 Years In Toddler's Smothering
ELK RIVER, Minn. (AP) -- A Clear Lake area man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the smothering of his girlfriend's 16-month-old son.
Twenty-five-year-old Dennis Angell pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder.
Angell agreed to the sentence and prosecutors agreed to drop a motion that would have asked the judge to sentence Angell to a term longer than called for under state sentencing guidelines. A charge of first-degree manslaughter was dismissed.
The St. Cloud Times reports the boy was choking and not breathing when deputies responded to a home in Santiago Township last November.
Angell initially told investigators the toddler started choking while in his care, but later admitted he put a pillow on the boy's face.