Brooklyn Park Woman Indicted on First-Degree Murder in Death of 8-year-old Son
A Hennepin County grand jury has indicted a Brooklyn Park mother with first-degree murder in the death of her 8-year-old son. Tasha Tennin, 36, of Brooklyn Park, is accused of locking out her son in a freezing garage leading to his death in February of 2018.
Tennin was originally charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter. A grand jury decides on first-degree murder charges.
According to the criminal complaint, Tennin initially contacted police and paramedics on the morning of Feb. 1, 2018 to report her son was unresponsive. Police and paramedics found the boy lying on the living room floor with no pulse. One investigator described the boy’s body as “very cold, as if he had been outside,” the complaint said. Tennin told police she attempted to wake him for school and carried him from his bedroom to the living room.
Complaint: Boy Subject of Child Abuse
The mother told Brooklyn Park police detectives that her son “came home from school sick, lethargic and without an appetite” the day before his death, the complaint said. However, staff members at the boy’s school told investigators that the child had been playing and jumping on a trampoline. There was also evidence that the child had urinated in the attached garage.
A medical examiner’s autopsy found no exact cause of death. But a doctor stated that multiple lesions and scars on the boy’s back were indicative of physical abuse, the complaint said.
Months after the boy’s death, his siblings told foster parents more about what happened. One of the children said the boy “got into trouble” on Jan. 31, 2018 and was told by Tennin to sit outside in the garage and was left there for the night. The boy was found unable to breathe the next morning, the complaint states.
Tennin is expected to make her first court appearance on Monday.
