Hopkins man pleads guilty to causing unborn baby's death

Article by: Star Tribune
Updated: December 19, 2008 - 10:44 AM

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A 20-year-old Hopkins man pleaded guilty Thursday to punching a friend's pregnant girlfriend in the midsection, leading to the unborn baby's death, in exchange for money.

In exchange for admitting in Hennepin County District Court to second-degree murder and first-degree assault, Paul A. Petersen agreed to testify against his friend and fellow defendant, Dameon Gatson.

Gatson, 24, and Petersen were charged last year in the attack on Shyloe Linde in her St. Louis Park apartment in April 2007. Gatson remains in the county jail, his next court appearance scheduled for Jan. 5. Petersen, also jailed, awaits sentencing.

Petersen knocked on Linde's door, and when the woman, who was six months pregnant with Gatson's child, answered the door, Petersen punched her two or three times in the abdomen, according to the charges. She went into labor; the baby girl weighed less than 2 pounds at birth and had significant health problems, including bleeding on the brain. She died May 1, 2007.

Petersen told police that Gatson offered him $200 to cause Linde to miscarry and that Gatson told him he feared she was cheating on him and that he didn't want another baby.

Petersen noted that Gatson gave him $40 after the assault.

Paul Walsh