ST. CLOUD, Minn. (trfnews.i234.me) – A Stearns County judge has sentenced a Paynesville woman to nearly 22 years in prison for murdering her disabled daughter. The child had chronic respiratory failure and severe developmental delay from birth.
Elise Nelson was found guilty of one count of second-degree intentional murder after pleading guilty earlier. Her sentencing came after the judge denied her motion to dismiss her plea.
According to court records, Nelson was alone with her daughter while her husband was on a fishing trip and their other child was staying at a family friend’s house. On June 21, 2020, Nelson disabled the girl’s oxygen monitoring device and deprived her of medical care.
The device monitors blood oxygen and pulse rate, sounding an alarm when levels drop below certain thresholds. Nelson silenced the alarm multiple times before shutting it off entirely.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the child on the living room floor, cold to the touch. She was pronounced dead at Paynesville Hospital after being brought there by paramedics.
An autopsy determined that Nelson deprived the child of care resulting in death and ruled the manner of death as homicide.
Nelson initially told police she had performed CPR for an hour but her story raised suspicions due to inconsistencies with a person exerting themselves for 60 minutes while performing CPR.
I’m Chris Harper reporting for trfnews.i234.me