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Charges were filed Thursday against an 18-year-old woman in connection with the death of an infant at a child care center in Savage last September.

Theah Loudemia Russell of Savage faces one count of second-degree unintentional murder and two counts of assault for allegedly suffocating 11-month-old Harvey Muklebust, and trying to suffocate another infant. 

Savage police said Wednesday that Russell had been employed at Rocking Horse Ranch day care for only a few weeks at the time of the alleged crimes. She allegedly confessed to the crimes to police, saying she was seeking attention. 

“This murder, and attempted murder of another child, deeply affected our community like nothing we have seen in the past,” Savage Police Chief Brady Juell said at a news conference Wednesday. “Our pursuit of justice in this case took a long time, and we understand that’s frustrating for people, but we were not stopping until we got to the bottom of it.”

Harvey’s grandmother, Julie Muklebust, spoke on behalf of the family at Wednesday’s news conference, thanking investigators and remembering her grandson, who was just five days from his first birthday, as someone who “filled our world with sunshine.”

“Harvey was such a blessing to our family, and his death has left a tremendous hole in our hearts,” Muklebust said. She hasn’t yet been ready to clean his fingerprints off her sliding-glass door. 

“Harvey — every day, we ask ourselves why it had to be you,” Muklebust said. “Every day we live with the pain of what happened to you, but we promise that every day we will say your name, every day we will continue to fight for you. And in the end, we will make sure that justice has been served.”

According to Juell, the police chief, Savage police initially responded to the day care center on Sept. 19 — a Friday — on a report of a 4-month-old child who had briefly stopped breathing and was found with blood and foam around her nose and mouth. 

“At that time, this appeared to be a medical episode with no immediate foul play concerns raised,” Juell said.

The child appeared normal and healthy over the weekend, and returned to the day care the following Monday — and was again found unresponsive a short time later. The child’s parents took her to the hospital, again believing it was a medical issue; police were not dispatched for that incident.

About two hours later, police said, Russell called 911 to report another child — Harvey Muklebust — was also not breathing. He died at a hospital later that morning, and the day care was closed. Russell’s “behavior and actions at the scene immediately raised suspicion,” Juell said.

“Over the following three months, investigators conducted dozens of interviews with day care staff, parents of children who attended, and various contractors associated with the facility. A clear pattern emerged: (Russell) was a common denominator in each of these incidents,” Juell said. 

An investigation of her background “revealed a documented history of attention-seeking behavior, including her making multiple 911 calls, reporting nonsensical incidents and simply hanging up. Also learned were past incidents involving starting fires at a church camp and erratic behavior toward other children,” the police chief said.

Russell is being held in the Scott County Jail on $3.5 million bail, and is due back in court on Feb. 4.

Juell said Wednesday that Rocking Horse Ranch remains closed, and is not facing any criminal investigation.

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Savage police said the suspect had been employed at Rocking Horse Ranch day care for only a few weeks when she allegedly suffocated 11-month-old Harvey Muklebust, and tried to suffocate another infant. 

Charges filed in death of infant at day care center in Savage

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