White Bear Lake Father Charged In Death Of Baby Son: Police

WHITE BEAR LAKE, MN — A White Bear Lake man was charged Monday in the death of his baby boy.

Mark R. Forster, 38, faces one count of second-degree murder (without intent). If convicted, he could receive up to 40 years in prison.

On Jan. 31, White Bear Lake officers received a report from staff at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood concerning an 8-week-old baby boy.

The baby's mother, age 24, brought him to the hospital because he was seizing and blue. Scans showed multiple brain bleeds, and staff suspected child abuse, according to the criminal complaint.

Officers spoke to the baby’s parents. The father, identified as Forster, told a physician he may have "dropped" the baby "or done something," the criminal complaint states.

Forster added that he "was not in his right state of mind last night," according to investigators.

Police learned that the mom worked 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the dad worked 2:40 p.m. to 12:40 a.m.

Forster typically gets home from work at about 1 a.m. and takes over care of his son when he wakes up, usually around 2:30 a.m., the criminal complaint states.

According to police, the mother said that on Jan. 31 Forster took the baby to the living room at 2:30 and she went back to sleep.

She woke up at 6 a.m. and began to prepare herself and her older daughter for work and school, the criminal complaint states.

The baby was with Forster until the mother returned home from work early that afternoon.

At various points that afternoon, the mother said the baby "tensed up," was crying a "different cry," was flailing, his face twitched and he had a spasm in one leg, according to authorities.

The child was hospitalized.

The mother later told police that Forster had been a supportive partner and father, but she had been concerned that he had been drinking too much, according to the criminal complaint.

Forster remembered putting the baby to bed but did not know how or when he went to bed, authorities said.

He said that he had "half of a fifth" of hard liquor after he got home from work that early morning and smoked according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators said they found a text that Forster sent to the baby's mother that stated: "Yea. I’m just really upset with myself because I got so blackout drunk last night I don’t remember anything. This is all my fault."

Child abuse specialists reported that the baby's medical issues were "highly consistent with abusive head trauma," the criminal complaint states.

The baby's condition worsened and he died on March 22. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled that the baby died from complications due to blunt force head trauma.