A Minnesota man who admitted to killing his 3-month-old daughter by smothering her with a pillow will serve 11 ½ years in jail.
Anoka County District Court docket Choose Jenny W. Jasper sentenced Benjamin Alexander Russell on July 31. Russell killed his daughter, Suvanna Russell, in 2009 to “muffle her cries.”
Below Minnesota regulation, Russell confronted a most sentence of 15 years as a result of he had by no means been convicted of a criminal offense prior. The choose additionally gifted Russell 389 days of time already served.
Russell was arrested in July 2022 for killing Suvanna and initially pleaded not responsible to second-degree homicide and first-degree manslaughter. In Might 2023, Russell agreed to plea to the homicide cost because the preliminary manslaughter cost was dropped.
In line with reporting from Regulation and Crime, Russell referred to as 911 from his house on Jan. 19, 2009, at 1:32 p.m. and reported an unresponsive toddler. Suvanna was transported to the hospital and pronounced useless after the paramedics carried out procedures in an try to revive her.
Russell initially advised regulation enforcement his daughter had positioned her head face-down in a blanket after he put her down for a nap, claiming that’s how she suffocated.
Russell ultimately advised the newborn’s mom he killed their daughter with a pillow when she was crying and that he “couldn’t deal with any of it,” based on court docket paperwork.
The paperwork additionally state Russell “left the room to smoke a cigarette” and “returned 12 minutes later.” When he returned he mentioned his daughter had turned blue.
Earlier than Russell’s sentencing, Suvanna’s mom advised the Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE, “I really feel she was cheated,” referring to Suvanna. “To present him 138 months is extraordinarily unfair. It’s unfair to her as a result of she solely bought three months of her life.”
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