Red Wing man indicted for murder over 8-week-old infant death

RED WING, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Red Wing man will face several charges for the death of an 8-week-old infant that he said "suddenly became unresponsive." 

Hunter Matthew McCutchen, 18, initially faced four counts of manslaughter (two in the first-degree for cause of death to another and two in second-degree for culpable negligence), and one count of child endangerment.

But following a four-and-a-half-month investigation by the Red Wing Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), a Goodhue County grand jury returned an indictment against him that alleges two counts of first-degree murder, and 13 additional charges in relation to the death of the 8-week-old.

According to charges, on May 23, officers from the Red Wing Police Department responded to a residence in which McCutchen was found walking from the hallway into the kitchen holding an infant who was unresponsive.

When asked what happened, McCutchen said that, "he was feeding [the infant] on the living room couch, then got up briefly and returned to feeding... and then suddenly the infant became unresponsive," according to charges. Medical records indicate that the infant was a previously healthy 8-week-old.

The following day, the initial 911 caller recorded a conversation with McCutchen on her cell phone, in which he admitted, "I just got so overwhelmed," and that, "I wasn’t thinking," while also admitting he, "put my hand over his mouth, but it wasn’t like a death grip or anything." She later turned the recordings over to investigators.

On May 25, the infant was pronounced dead at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester.

McCutchen is being held at the Goodhue County Adult Detention Center on $2 million cash bail. 

His next appearance is set for Nov. 13.