A Brooklyn Park woman locked her 8-year-old son in the garage overnight in February, leading to his death, according to charges.
Tasha T. Tennin, 37, was charged Monday in Hennepin County District Court with one count of second-degree manslaughter.
Tennin's son, who was not named in the charges, was found unresponsive about 7:34 a.m. Feb. 1, 2018, at the family's home.
"Victim's skin was 'ice cold,' " the charges said.
According to the criminal complaint:
Tennin called 911 to report that her son was unresponsive and "staring into space." Officers at the scene found the boy lying on the living room floor not breathing and with no pulse.
Tennin told police she had tried to wake him up for school and carried him downstairs when he didn't respond.
The first officer at the scene administered lifesaving measures, but the boy was pronounced dead. The outside temperature was in the negative single digits and snow was present.
Although the boy was "extremely cold" he was not frozen or wet, and there were no footprints in the snow, the charges said.
First responders at the scene noticed that the boy had urinated in his pajamas and saw a puddle of frozen liquid near the doormat in a garage attached to the house, according to the complaint.
Tennin told police that day and on subsequent days that her son had been sick, lethargic and had no appetite when he returned home from school on Jan. 31.
School staff told police the boy seemed healthy and was jumping on a trampoline on Jan. 31.
On Feb. 5, Tennin allegedly told police conducting a walk-through of the home that the boy could've died from the cold.
"Maybe he was outside," she said.
Asked by a detective if she was positive he was outside, she said, "I'd say no."
The detective asked if the boy had been locked in the garage.
"No," she said.
Police returned to the home Feb. 8 with a search warrant but the frozen liquid in the garage had vanished, and DNA tests of the area did not yield enough information, the charges said.
An autopsy found 17 lesions and scars on the boy's back indicative of abuse, the complaint said. No new injuries were found, and toxicology tests showed an "extremely elevated" glucose level consistent with death from hypothermia.
After several months, the boy's siblings revealed new information to a foster parent. In a subsequent interview, one sibling said the boy had gotten into unspecified trouble when he got home from school on Jan. 31 and was ordered by Tennin to "sit in the garage," the complaint said.
The sibling said their mother locked the garage, and that she carried him in the next morning.
Tennin was charged via warrant and is not in custody.
Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708 Twitter: @ChaoStrib
