An unlicensed day care provider in North St. Paul faces manslaughter charges after an infant died while in her care.
Amy Jo Englebretson, 43, was charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter following the child’s death, which occurred in August, according to a criminal complaint filed against her Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.
Police responded to a residence in the 2300 block of South Avenue in North St. Paul just after 11 a.m. Aug. 8 on a report of a 6-month-old girl who was not breathing. When officers arrived, Englebretson “frantically” opened the door and led them inside, court documents say. The infant was reportedly lying unresponsive on a rug in the living room. She was pale and cold.
Officers performed CPR on the baby until an ambulance arrived. Then the child was taken to Children’s Hospitals and Clinics, where she later died.
Englebretson, who appeared “visibly upset,” told police she was the infant’s day care provider, the complaint said. She reportedly had put the child down for a nap in her car seat and placed the seat on a bed around 9 a.m. A short time later, Englebretson said, she went to check on the infant and found her sleeping. When she went in a second time, the child was “strangled up” in the car seat’s straps, court documents said. Englebretson told police the girl had reportedly “scooted” down, causing the seat’s strap to wrap around her neck.
She took the baby into the living room and began CPR. Then she called 911, according to the complaint.
She later reportedly told police “I didn’t do it right, it was too loose” in reference to how she had strapped the child into the seat.
Officers observed a Graco Snugride at the scene that Englebretson said was the child’s. It had a warning label attached to it that “clearly” stated that the carrier could roll over on soft surfaces and suffocate a child, court documents say. It also reportedly said to never place the car seat on beds, sofas or other soft surfaces as “a child can strangle in loose restraint straps.”
The Ramsey County medical examiner determined that the infant died from “asphyxia due to compression of the neck,” court documents say. Strap marks were also observed on the girl.
Englebretson was carrying for nine other children that day, though she had no day care license. Four of the other children were also under 2 years old. She told police she had been licensed as a provider in the past and was on a “waiting list” for Ramsey County, court documents say.
Investigators later determined the woman had not recently applied for a license and was not on any wait list.
When parent clients of the day care were interviewed, they said Englebretson had informed them she was in the process of getting licensed and that she would be caring for no more than six children at a time.
Most were reportedly new clients who had found Englebretson from an ad she had placed on Craigslist.org.
It is illegal to operate a day care in Minnesota without a license, according to the complaint.
The victim’s mother told police Englebretson had told her that her daughter would nap in a portable crib in the living room within Englebretson’s view.
In western Wisconsin, Englebretson had been a licensed day care provider in both Polk County and St. Croix County between 2000 and 2015. During that time, she received at least six violations for not complying with age restrictions and the number of children allowed under her license, the complaint said.
A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Englebretson identified herself as Englebretson’s daughter and said that neither she nor her mother wished to comment on the charges.