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A Cottage Grove mother, who admitted to drinking nearly a fifth of vodka before falling asleep and ending up on top of her infant son, has been charged with two counts of manslaughter.

The criminal complaint said Toni A. Medrano, 29, fell asleep on the couch after placing the child between her and the back cushion. She awoke to find the 3-week-old boy "cold and purple," and screamed to her husband: "The baby is dead."

Medrano was charged Wednesday with a count of second-degree manslaughter for "culpable negligence creating unreasonable risk," and a count of second-degree manslaughter for "committing or attempting to commit a violation." Both are felonies.

The boy, Adrian Alexander Medrano, was born on Nov. 1. He died of asphyxia after being laid on while sleeping, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's office concluded in an autopsy.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Fred Fink, chief of the criminal division at the Washington County attorney's office, the boy's father came home from work the night of Nov. 21 to find that Medrano had been drinking. He told his wife that "she should not lie on the couch with the baby as she could fall asleep and suffocate the baby," the complaint said.

A Cottage Grove police officer responded to an emergency call the next morning about 10:38 a.m. at the residence on 90th Street. He found the father performing CPR on the child. The officer and paramedics continued resuscitation attempts but Adrian was pronounced dead at Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury.

No date has been set for Medrano's initial appearance in Washington County District Court.

KEVIN GILES