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Murder Charge Dropped Against Burnsville Mother

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A murder charge against a Minnesota woman accused in the death of her toddler has been dropped after a key witness left the country.

Rachel Reeves of Burnsville faced trial in Hennepin County on a second-degree murder charge in the death of 13-month-old Julia Rivera. A criminal complaint says Reeves dropped off her daughter at a baby sitter's house in Minnetonka in March 2009.

The baby sitter asked her son to call 911 after noticing the child was pale and had a blank look in her eyes. The toddler died at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.

The defense alleged the baby sitter should be a suspect in the child's death. The St. Paul Pioneer Press says the prosecution dropped the charge after the sitter left for Mexico.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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