A woman in Stearns County, Minnesota is accused of letting her chronically ill daughter die by turning off the child’s oxygen-monitoring device. Elise Christine Nelson, 35, was charged Wednesday in the death of her daughter Kylie Christine Larson, 13.
The defendant was home alone with the victim from June 18 to June 21 while Nelson’s husband went on a fishing trip and her other child was at the home of a family friend, according to the complaint obtained by WJON.
The victim lived with medical problems due to oxygen loss, according to police in a Fox 9 report. Her condition reportedly included cerebral palsy, developmental delay, and respiratory failure. This meant she needed around-the-clock medical care since birth.
Cops said that Larson’s oxygen and pulse levels were steady for two days until they dropped. An alarm went off, but according to police, the history of the oxygen-monitoring device showed that the alarm limit dropped from 90-percent to 74-percent for 24 hours; then it was back up to 90-percent at 7 a.m. on June 21. The machine was finally switched off at 7:24 a.m.
Police claim the family friend attempted to drop off Nelson’s other child that morning, but could not enter the home. Nelson allegedly texted the person, claiming to have done CPR for an hour and was waiting for police to get there. But according to cops, she did not call 911 until speaking to the friend on the phone for 17 minutes.
Officers got to the scene right before 1:15 p.m., and found the victim on the living room floor. She was soon pronounced dead at the hospital.
Nelson allegedly claimed that the child’s oxygen level dipped to 86-percent. Part-time, in-home nurses for the family claimed there would be no reason to drop the machine’s oxygen levels.
Law enforcement claimed that Nelson didn’t seem like she was active for an hour doing CPR, according to a Star Tribune report.
Police did not name the victim, but Kylie Larson was identified in an obituary as Elise Nelson’s daughter.
A hearing was held for the defendant on Thursday. Another is scheduled for Oct. 8. It is unclear if Nelson has an attorney in this matter.
[Mugshot of Nelson via Stearns County Jail]
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