Charges: 2-year-old allegedly drowned inside bin in shower
BEMIDJI, Minn. (KMSP) - A foster parent is being charged with manslaughter after authorities found a 2-year-old girl dead at a home in Bemidji, Minn. on Sunday.
According to the criminal complaint, officers responded to a report of an unresponsive child at a residence around 11:20 a.m. Upon arrival, Nathan Jackson, 38, told police he had placed the 2-year-old girl in the downstairs shower at 7:30 a.m. and that there was a "laundry bin" inside of it.
Jackson left child in shower
"Jackson stated that he left the bathroom for a period of time and when he came back to check on the girl, he found her in the bin, which was then filled with water," court documents stated. "Jackson stated that when he pulled her out of the bin she was breathing."
The complaint goes on to say that Jackson said the 2-year-old didn't "seem right" but that "he didn't know she was that bad" so he reportedly dressed her and laid her down in her bed. When Sgt. Market arrived, he was advised by Bemidji Fire and Ambulance personnel that the child was deceased in the bed.
'Laundry bin' was in fact rubber tote
Detectives located the "laundry bin" referred to by Jackson and observed the bin was in fact "an 18-gallon Rubbermaid tote, with no holes like a typical laundry basket/bin," court documents said.
Jackson's fiance Amanda White told authorities that the young girl was "non-verbal and had just learned to walk eight days before her second birthday, which was April 21, 2016." White said they typically bathed the girl in the bathtub upstairs.
A preliminary autopsy report indicated the child died as a result of freshwater drowning.
Jackson is being charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and negligence. Each charge brings a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.