Mom Sentenced in Case Where Child Died at Rochester Hospital
Mankato, MN (KROC-AM News) - The death of a young child at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester has resulted in a 7 1/2 year prison sentence for the baby's mother.
28-year-old Chelsea Olinger was given the 90-month sentence this morning during a hearing in Blue Earth County Court, where she previously pleaded guilty to a first-degree manslaughter charge. She was given credit for the 461 days she has spent in jail since her arrest in Rochester in February of last year.
Olinger was originally charged with second and third-degree murder in connection with the death of her 16-month-old son. Following the child's transfer to Rochester from the Mayo Clinic Health System Hospital in Mankato, doctors were not able to detect any signs of brain activity and an autopsy blamed his death on multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
The criminal complaint says Olinger claimed the toddler was hurt in a fall down some stairs, and later said the child’s head may have struck the side of a crib. She also told an investigator she was frustrated because of the child’s crying and “covered the child’s mouth with her hand to silence” the child. A Mayo Clinic doctor told investigators the injuries were not consistent with a fall down some stairs but “were consistent with non-accidental trauma.”
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