Shakopee man charged with manslaughter in 2014 death of son

The Scott County attorney's office charged a 31-year-old Shakopee man this week with second-degree manslaughter while committing child neglect in connection with the December death of his 5-month-old son.

Ryan Lee Husemann Jr. died Dec. 29 from "positional asphyxia," according to the Hennepin County medical examiner's office. Shakopee police arrested his father, Ryan Lee Husemann Sr., on Wednesday.

Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar said police sent the case to his office on Feb. 26.

According to charges, Shakopee police responded to a medical emergency at Husemann's home at 5:58 a.m. Dec. 29 and found the infant's mother performing CPR on the boy. When police determined the child was dead, they asked her to leave the room.

Husemann told them he had taken his son into his bedroom and locked the door the night before after an argument with the boy's mother. The baby awoke crying during the night, but Husemann yelled at the mother to leave when she tried to check on the baby.

Husemann said he laid the baby on a u-shaped pillow in the same manner he had "100 times before," and insisted he didn't roll over on the child. Husemann said the last thing he remembered was feeding his son while lying next to him on the same bed.

When Husemann woke up, he said, the child was facedown and not moving.

In explaining his absence, Husemann initially claimed to have been kidnapped in Bloomington and held for three days. He later told police that the kidnappers didn't hold him, but took $750 from him and gave him four grams of methamphetamine. He said that he used the drug all weekend before returning home, its effects persisting until he fell asleep.

A blood sample taken from Husemann the day of his son's death confirmed the presence of amphetamine and methamphetamine.

Husemann's criminal history includes convictions for providing liquor to people under 21, theft, property damage, disorderly conduct and driving while impaired. If convicted of second-degree manslaughter, he faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine up to $20,000.

Husemann is in the Scott County jail in lieu of a $200,000 bail. His first appearance in Scott County District Court is March 30.