A Hennepin County grand jury has indicted a Brooklyn Park woman on first-degree murder charges in the death of her 8-year-old son, who died after being locked in a garage overnight in the winter of 2018.
Tasha T. Tennin, 37, was arrested Friday. She was charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter in 2019, but those charges were upgraded Thursday by the grand jury.
Tennin now faces charges that include first-degree murder while committing child abuse with a past pattern of child abuse, and unintentional second-degree murder while committing a felony.
On Feb. 1, 2018, she called authorities because her son was unresponsive. First responders found the boy on the living room floor, cold to the touch, with no pulse. She told police she tried to wake the boy up for school and carried him to the living room when he didn't respond.
The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy reported multiple scars and lesions on his back, indicative of physical abuse. Toxicology tests found a heightened level of glucose, consistent with death from hypothermia, authorities said.
Months later, the boy's siblings told their foster parents that the boy got into trouble on Jan. 31, 2018, and was told by Tennin to sit in the garage. She locked the garage and the boy was left there overnight.
Tennin's bail is set at $2 million. She is to make her first court appearance Monday.
