MINNEAPOLIS _ A 21-year-old Minneapolis father beat his 4-month-old daughter into unconsciousness with roughly two dozen punches to the head and chest because she wouldn't be quiet, then left her unconscious on a bloodied changing station, according to murder charges filed Tuesday.
Cory C. Morris was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder in the death of Emersyn on Saturday in their home.
The girl was found late Saturday afternoon on her changing station in a pool of blood in the upper level of the duplex in the Prospect Park neighborhood, according to the criminal complaint. She was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center and was pronounced dead there, having suffered severe bruising and swelling to her face and chest.
Morris, who was caring for the baby while her mother was at work, was arrested that evening at the duplex and remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail. His first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement to police, Morris said the baby started making noises as he watched television, the complaint read. He moved Emersyn from her baby swing to the changing station, where she "continued making noises, and he hit her to quiet her," the complaint continued.
Morris admitted punching Emersyn approximately 15 times in the face and seven or so times in the chest, the document read. He also said he squeezed the baby's chest with both hands, the charging document added.
Morris called the mother, Jennifer Andersen, and admitted to punching the baby repeatedly, according to a search warrant filed in the case.
When emergency medical personnel arrived at the home, Morris' hands "were filled with blood and his shirt had bloodstains on them," the search warrant document read.
Andersen told police that Morris would watch their baby three to four times a week while she was at work. She noted that her boyfriend "can go from happy to mad easily," the criminal complaint read. She said Morris has directed his anger at her in the past and grabbed her and thrown items.
"As a father and grandfather, such brutal actions are difficult for me to comprehend," County Attorney Mike Freeman said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "Family members have suggested there may be mental health issues here. These will need to be evaluated during the course of this case."
In an interview with the Star Tribune on Monday, Cory Morris' mother, Ginny, said that for the last year her son had been struggling with depression, but their family was never able to find him help. Providers told them there were no beds available for him. Other times, she said, "he pushed us away."
"We kept trying to help him," Morris said. Last Thursday he did see a counselor for a one-hour session, she said.
But she said her son, who was raised in Oakdale, was never a violent person. She said it was normal for her son to watch the baby on his own.
"We never thought he would hurt the baby. We would never allow him to be with the baby if that was the case," she said. "We were worried he was going to hurt himself, not the baby."
In a Facebook posting, Emersyn's mother wrote, "I lost the sweetest little girl the world has ever know(n). She was left in the care of her father like normal while I was at work & he took her life. ... Emersyn was my whole entire world & now she's gone."
Brittney Thomson, whose small apartment building backs up to one side of the duplex, said she saw Morris out with his two dogs earlier Saturday.
"He seemed high" when he let the dogs out, said Thomson, who did not see the baby Saturday. "He wasn't paying attention to the dogs (as they ran around off their leashes), and he seemed out of it. He was wandering aimlessly and then standing."
In a similar case in 2011 that involved the mental state of the defendant, a Hennepin County judge found an Eden Prairie man who drowned his baby son in a laundry tub not guilty by reason of mental illness. Randel Richardson admitted to holding 7-month-old Rowan under the water while his wife shopped for groceries.
Last December, an 18-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison for killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old because the child wouldn't stop crying. Cody Feran-Baum pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder in the death of Sophia O'Neill.
