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Minneapolis Man Chris McMorris Allegedly Beat 7-Month-Old To Death Because She Wasn’t His

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 14:29 PST, Aug 24, 2016

Minnesota authorities say that a horrific case of child abuse homicide took place back in March; that’s when Minneapolis man Chris McMorris, 24, allegedly beat a 7-month-old infant to death over the course of several days. The reason? According to law enforcement, the child’s increasingly severe injuries were witnessed by daycare workers when the Minneapolis man dropped the baby off.

Reportedly, the injuries, allegedly caused by Chris McMorris, ranged from bruises and scratches on her face to injuries to her back. The Washington Post reports that when the daycare employees asked Minneapolis man Chris McMorris, who was also the boyfriend of the 7-month-old’s mother, what had happened to the little girl, he brushed their concerns off and told them simply that the baby had been injured at home.

After days of allegedly bringing the injured 7-month-old girl to daycare, Chris McMorris stopped taking her to the center on March 24. That was the day that first responders got the call to come to the home that the Minneapolis man shared with the infant and her mother. What they found was tragic, disgusting, and irreparable.

According to a probable cause statement, McMorris told police and EMTs that he’d called them because the 7-month-old had been “vomiting a white substance”; however, authorities immediately discovered that the baby’s condition was much worse than a mere stomach ailment. When they got to the Minneapolis home, the baby was found motionless on the floor. She was found to be suffering from severe injuries and physical trauma, and she passed away less than two hours after first responders got to the scene.

Law enforcement and investigators into the death of the 7-month-old, who was allegedly in the sole care of Chris McMorris when police responded to the Minneapolis man’s 911 call, say that the baby died a violent and incredibly painful death. Her tiny body was fraught with injuries, including 11 rib fractures, head wounds, bruising all over her body, and a lacerated liver.

Medical examiners determined that, based on the extent of the child’s injuries, she had been repeatedly hit or kicked in the abdomen. Her March 24 death has been ruled an intentional homicide.

Throughout the course of the investigation that has been ongoing since March, authorities have come to the conclusion that Minneapolis man Chris McMorris beat the child to death after finding out that she wasn’t his biological child. He has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and is being held on $1.5 million bail at the Hennepin County Jail. If he is convicted, Chris McMorris could spend up to 30 years in prison.

Reportedly, the Minneapolis man found out that the little girl, who has remained unnamed by police and the media, was not his daughter just three days before she was found battered and nearly dead by first responders on the floor of her home. According to the daycare providers who cared for the child, that was roughly the same time period that she’d be coming to daycare with visible injuries.

According to the 7-month-old’s mother (and the reported live-in girlfriend of Minneapolis man Chris McMorris), she didn’t see the injuries her daughter suffered in the days leading up to her death — injuries noted by the childcare workers who watched the baby.

In fact, the child’s mother (who has also not been publicly named) said the little girl was suffering from nothing more than a cold prior to her untimely death. It is unknown at this point whether or not the child’s mother could end up facing charges along with Minneapolis man Chris McMorris.

Chris McMorris is reportedly being represented by attorney Ira Whitlock, who maintains his client’s innocence, citing “inconsistencies” in the case that has been built against him.

“Just because a person ends up being the last person with the baby when the baby dies doesn’t mean that person caused the injuries to the baby,” Whitlock said. “Mr. McMorris was with the baby, but it doesn’t mean he inflicted the injuries to the child.”

While the death of the unnamed 7-month-old baby took place back in March, charges against Minneapolis man Chris McMorris were just filed this week; he is expected back in court on September 22.

[Image via Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office]

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