Child protection filing: Severe shaking killed 3-month-old White Bear Lake boy; ruled homicide

Officials say that a 3-month-old boy from White Bear Lake who died last March is a victim of homicide from head injuries he suffered from being severely shaken.

Jackson Dallas Forster died March 22 at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis from complications related to bleeding between the brain and the skull, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The examiner’s office listed Jackson’s cause of death as homicide. The White Bear Lake Police Department is leading the investigation and said no arrests have been made as of late Thursday afternoon. A spokesman for the County Attorney’s Office said prosecutors were reviewing the case for possible charges.

Despite little information coming so far from law enforcement, court records reveal several details of the circumstances surrounding Jackson’s death.

On Jan. 31, when Jackson was 7 weeks old, his mother took the boy to the emergency room at M Health Fairview St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood because he was “experiencing seizure-like activity,” vomiting and constantly twitching, read a petition for a child protection order filed four days before he died.

An examination found internal head injuries whose origins were unknown at that time. Jackson was transferred to Masonic Children’s Hospital “due to the severity of his injuries,” the petition continued. Ultimately, the petition pointed out, hospital staff told Ramsey County social service personnel that the boy’s injuries were caused by severe shaking.

At Masonic Children, Jackson’s father told medical care providers that he “dropped or did something” to the boy the night before, the petition quoted him as saying.

The petition also disclosed that the father told police that he had been drinking alcohol heavily and smoking marijuana the night before the boy was taken to the hospital. The father acknowledged possibly dropping the boy but added that “he doesn’t remember what happened, because he blacked out,” the petition read. He also told Ramsey County social service personnel that he may have dropped the boy or sat on him, the petition noted.

Jackson’s mother told police that the father was home alone with their son until she came home from work about 1:30 p.m. and noticed that the boy was shaking and refusing to eat, prompting her to take him to the hospital, the petition continued.

The child protection order led to the county on March 18 to take over the parental rights of Jackson and the mother’s 5-year-old daughter on an emergency basis.