Mankato Man Sentenced For Death of His Infant Daughter
Mankato, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Mankato man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for causing the death of his infant daughter and 2021.
The two-month-old girl died in early November 2021 in Rochester, where she was taken to be treated after her parents brought her to the emergency room at the Mayo Clinic Health System Hospital in Mankato and it was discovered she was suffering from bleeding in the brain. According to the criminal complaint, the child also had facial bruising along with bone fractures on her legs and ribs.
The doctors treating the baby told Mankato police detectives that the injuries were not accidental and criminal charges were filed against the father, 41-year-old Kristopher Arlando Henderson. He was originally charged with first-degree assault but an amended complaint filed after the infant's death charged him with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and three counts of malicious punishment of a child.
According to court records, Henderson repeatedly denied doing anything to harm the infant and initially tried to blame the injuries on the family's large cats. About a week after the baby was brought to the emergency room in Mankato, Henderson met with Mankato detectives and told the investigators he had struck the two-month-old hard enough on the back to break her ribs.
Henderson worked out a plea agreement with Blue Earth County prosecutors last December and entered an Alford plea to the second-degree murder charge. That means he does not admit guilt, but acknowledges there is enough evidence to convict him.
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