A Maple Grove woman has agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in her mother's death, which she caused by pushing the older woman down steps and beating her with a can of pasta sauce.
Nicole Mari Wobbeking, 50, agreed to plead guilty Thursday, according to a filing in Hennepin County District Court. She agreed to charges of second-degree manslaughter in exchange for the dismissal of first-degree charges.
Sheila Wobbeking, 78, died on July 5. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said the cause was an artery blockage that resulted from a broken shin suffered in the incident at her daughter's Maple Grove house on June 27.
According to charges filed over the summer, Sheila Wobbeking told officers who responded to a domestic abuse call that she went to the Maple Grove house, which she rented to her daughter, to discuss unpaid rent and issues raised by neighbors.
After she knocked with no reply, Sheila Wobbeking told officers, she entered and found her daughter, who screamed obscenities, slapped her, pushed her down the stairs and beat her in the hips and ribs with an unopened can of pasta sauce.
Nicole Wobbeking was initially charged with third-degree assault and domestic assault, but charges were later upgraded to manslaughter.
Under terms of the agreement, Wobbeking would spend five years on probation and serve 365 days in the workhouse, with credit for more than five months already served. It's subject to a judge's approval.
