Trigger Warning: This article contains references to the alleged suicide and child murder that some readers may find distressing.
A Minnesota man fatally stabbed his wife and seven-year-old daughter with a screwdriver inside their home daycare in the basement on Wednesday morning, August 12. He then shot himself in an upstairs closet. All of this happened when six other kids were present at the daycare. They were reportedly not physically harmed.
According to the Hennepin County search warrant, the man was identified as 41-year-old Nathan Brown. He stabbed his 41-year-old wife, Kristen Brown, and their daughter, Evie Brown. They lived in a suburban area of Hopkins in Minneapolis.
A father, who was dropping his two children off at daycare, heard screams and went inside and thought Nathan was performing CPR. However, he soon realized the man was the one attacking. The father called 911 to report the crime and fled the scene with his two other kids.
The case is still under investigation. Police have connected the case to a different murder of Nathan’s 78-year-old relative at her home in Burnsville. The authorities are still working on the timeline of the events and believe he killed the elderly relative before he killed his family.
According to the parents who sent their kids to the daycare, they received a letter from Kristen about its closing. She claimed relationship issues with Nathan were the reason behind it.
While the real motive of the murder remains unclear, their crumbling relationship may have played a role. Police found no history of emergency calls to the address, and it was a first-time event. Kristen was licensed to operate a 10-child daycare since 2019.
Her daycare passed the compliance inspections in 2023, 2024, and 2025. She started the daycare, Brown Bear Childcare, a few months after giving birth to her daughter. Kristen was a dedicated mother and also took daycare children on field trips and to museums and orchards.
The man accused of killing his wife and their 7-year-old daughter at a home daycare in Minnesota before taking his own life stabbed them with a screwdriver before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a report. https://t.co/urbUqxOxmZ
— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) August 13, 2026
She arranged cooking classes and music to be a part of the daycare. Her goal was to help children “blossom into happy, intelligent, caring individuals.” The neighbors called the situation heartbreaking.
One of them told the reporters, “It’s just, it’s just shocking. I just can’t believe that that could happen in my neighborhood.” Another one said, “That breaks my heart, honestly. yeah. I can’t imagine what their family is going through. And yeah, innocent. That’s awful.”
The sister of the deceased mother described her as kind and loving. The neighbors said similar kind words for her. There was a small memorial with plushies, candles, and flowers left outside their home near the fountain. Needless to say, the whole community is shocked and grieving.
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public video record.
