Eyota Teenager Charged With Killing Younger Brother
Eyota, MN (KROC-AM News) - Charges were filed today against an Eyota teenager accused of killing his younger brother.
17-year-old Kaleb Smith was arraigned today in Olmsted County Juvenile Court on a charge of second-degree unintentional murder and a felony charge of domestic assault by strangulation. The criminal complaint alleges Smith caused the death of his five-year-old brother by holding his hand over the child's mouth and pinching his nose.
The criminal complaint says the teenager admitted to blocking the child’s airway closed for one to two minutes in an effort to stop him from shrieking. Investigators say the 5-year-old had been sent to bed Monday afternoon by his mother after she was informed that he had killed a bird that the teenager and his siblings had been attempting to nurse back to health.
According to the charges, the teenager stated he went into his brother's room a few minutes later because the younger boy was crying and throwing a fit by kicking and hitting the bed and "flopping like a fish." The juvenile told investigators he responded by pinning the victim’s hands to his body to get him to stop flopping and then draped a blanket over his body and head before returning to his room to read. After his brother continued shrieking, Smith stated he went back into his room, pinched his nose shut, and put his hand over his mouth for one to two minutes until he stopped shrieking.
The children’s mother told investigators she had left the home for a short period of time with the 17-year-old and the 5-year-old alone in the house. She called 911 when she returned home around 4:30 PM and found the young child unresponsive in his bedroom.
The complaint says an autopsy was conducted and the preliminary results found the boy's brain exhibited swelling consistent with deprivation of oxygen by smothering.
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