MN Man Gets 5 Years After Girl Was Neglected To Death

MINNEAPOLIS — A Red Lake man has been sentenced to five years in prison in the death of a girl on the reservation, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced Tuesday.

Julius Fineday, Sr., 42, pleaded guilty in March to one count of felony child neglect causing the death of a child.

Fineday's co-defendant, Sharon Rosebear, was convicted of felony child neglect following an April 2024 jury trial. She has not yet been sentenced.

Between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 25, 2022, Fineday "willfully deprived" a child of necessary food, health care, and other basic need, authorities said.

During the sentencing hearing, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz said Fineday neglected the girl in "nearly every way" that a caretaker can neglect a child, noting that Fineday had deprived Minor A of necessary nutrition, had failed to address Minor A’s head lice, had kept Minor A from attending the school where she would have received nutritious meals the school provided.

Fineday failed to take the child to the doctor for three years other than for COVID vaccinations, for which the household received cash incentives, Judge Schiltz said. The starvation of the child resulted in her becoming "not just thin, but skeletal," he added.

The girl's cause of death was determined to be the combined effects of malnutrition and Group A Streptococcal infection, resulting from neglect, authorities said.

While the severity of the neglect warranted an upward variance from the applicable sentencing guidelines, the court acknowledged Fineday’s" sincere remorse." Fineday's decision to plead guilty in advance of trial, and without a plea agreement, was a significant mitigating factor that weighed against an even longer sentence, authorities said.

Judge Schiltz said he hopes the sentence signals to all those caring for children that "neglecting or abusing a child will result in negative consequences not only for the child, but also the responsible adult."