Minnesota dad charged with manslaughter of infant son left under weighted blanket for 5 HOURS

A Minnesota father faces manslaughter charges after his 10-month-old baby was found dead under a weighted blanket. 

Omni Maxx Morningstar, 26, of Mankato, told police that he placed a weighted blanket over his son, Remington Tristan Morningstar, during nap time and returned to discover his child's lifeless body hours later. The baby died on October 1. Morningstar was taken into custody on Monday on second-degree manslaughter charges filed in Blue Earth County District Court.

According to charging documents, Morningstar did not check on his baby over the course of five hours. He told authorities that he is autistic and was chatting with friends on the Discord app during his son's nap time.

Morningstar informed officers at the scene that his son had a history of high fevers and was "colicky." He stated that he has been using the weighted blanket on his son for around five months to keep the baby's legs from moving, and that his son had overheated twice previously.

The complaint, obtained by Daily Mail, quotes Morningstar as saying, "I'm thinking in my head, like, five hours. Huh. I really do wish I would have checked on him. I mean it only happened twice before. It spiked two times, and we fixed him two times." His baby's temperature was 104.7 degrees at the time of his death.

The Medical Examiner ruled the baby's cause of death as probable asphyxia caused by compression of a weighted blanket.

The baby's mother, Isabella, told investigators that she found Remington overheating during nap time about a month prior, after Morningstar forgot about him while playing video games, according to court documents. She also stated that Morningstar had a history of placing comforters over the baby's head to keep him from crying.

Morningstar faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted.