A 40-year-old Minnesota father, Mark Russell Forster, has been sentenced to 128 months—just under 11 years—in a state correctional facility for the 2024 death of his 8-week-old son, Jackson Dallas Forster. Ramsey County District Judge Sophia Y. Vuelo issued the sentence on Monday.
Forster pleaded a Norgaard plea last month to one count of second-degree murder without intent while in commission of a felony. A Norgaard plea is used when a defendant cannot recall the crime’s details but concedes the prosecution has sufficient evidence for a conviction.
The incident unfolded on January 31, 2024, when Jackson’s mother rushed him to the hospital after he began seizing and turning blue. Medical staff diagnosed the infant with multiple brain bleeds consistent with child abuse. Jackson died less than two months later from complications due to blunt force trauma to the head.
Court documents detail that Forster had assumed childcare duties overnight after returning home from work and consuming a substantial amount of alcohol and smoking marijuana. When confronted by his partner about the baby’s injuries, and later by police, Forster admitted he may have hurt his son but claimed he was “blackout drunk” and had no memory of the events.
In a text message to Jackson’s mother, he wrote, “Yea. I’m just really upset with myself because I got so blackout drunk last night I don’t remember anything. This is all my fault.” The court credited Forster with 460 days of time already served.
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