A Minnesota dad killed his eight-week-old newborn while being blackout drunk. The father did not even remember any details of the death of his own son. 40-year-old Mark Russell Forster will now spend almost 11 years in jail after being found guilty of causing his newborn’s death.
The boy’s mom saw that the baby was blue and seizing. She noticed his arms were flailing and he was acting strangely. The baby was admitted to the hospital with multiple brain bleeds and other traumatic injuries.
In addition, an investigation was launched by the White Bear Lake Police Department after the hospital’s staff called them over suspicion of child abuse. The baby died at the Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis after two months of care, despite doctors’ efforts.
He had suffered severe injuries and trauma to the head. When the parents were at the hospital, Forster admitted he may have dropped the baby, and he was not in the right state of mind the previous night.
White Bear Lake man sentenced for killing infant son while “blackout drunk.” https://t.co/TlogSAfaF2
— Pioneer Press (@PioneerPress) November 18, 2025
According to the investigation, the father reached home late, around 1 am after work. He told the police he drank a little, but he did not remember putting his newborn to bed. He said he had consumed ‘half of a fifth’ of hard liquor after coming to their Minnesota home from work.
So he had five drinks starting around 1 a.m. Forster also admitted that he had been stressed at work and smoked m——– after coming home. The newborn’s mom said he was a supportive father and partner, but had been drinking too much. During that night, he may have been not just drunk but high too, explaining the blackout and no memory at all.
When the baby woke up, the drunk dad attempted to take care of him. The mom went to work at 6 am and did not notice anything until noon. She noticed he was crying unusually and arching his back.
After bringing him to the hospital, the ER nurse told her that the father of the child may have done something. The dad blamed himself in the text messages too, “Yeah. I’m just really upset with myself because I got so blackout drunk last night, I don’t remember anything. This is all my fault.”
So he had no recollection of the events and how the newborn ended up with severe injuries. The dad used the Norgaard plea and now will serve 128 months(almost 11 years) in jail. Netizens weren’t satisfied with the sentence, and some were hoping for lifetime imprisonment even if it was unintentional child abuse.
