A mom revealed in a Ramsey County District Court on Thursday how she mixed milk, sugar, sleep medications and bedbug poison, then fed it to her 1-month-old son.
KSTP reports that Shwe Htoo, 23, of St. Paul, Minnesota, admitted that when they both woke up the next morning, she knew “it didn’t work” and smothered the baby dead. She said she was desperate to end both their lives. She lived. The baby died.
“I covered his nose with my hand and he couldn’t breathe.”
After killing her son, his mother reportedly placed him in a car seat and drove him to the Como Zoo.
“I was looking for a place to die,” Htoo said. “I was looking for a lot of places to crash myself and kill myself.”
Htoo was stopped by police after she crashed the car into a light pole.
Sobbing in court, she pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter for the death of her infant son, Michael.
Court records indicate that at the time, Shwe Htoo was suffering from postpartum depression. She will likely serve 12 to 15 years based on the baby’s tender age, and the “particular cruelty” of the death, due to the “high degree of planning, preparation and concealment.”
When questioned by Assistant County Attorney Nguyen, she confessed she originally tried to poison the tot and herself. She also stated she was unhappy in her marriage.
It is believed Htoo is Burma-born and has been in the United States about two years. Htoo is expected to be sentenced to between 12.5 to 15 years in prison at her next hearing on March 22.
[Feature Photo: St. Paul PD]
