Clear Lake Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison in Toddler’s Smothering

ELK RIVER, Minn. (AP) - A Clear Lake area man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the smothering of his girlfriend's 16-month-old son.

Twenty-five-year-old Dennis Angell pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder.

Angell agreed to the sentence and prosecutors agreed to drop a motion that would have asked the judge to sentence Angell to a term longer than called for under state sentencing guidelines. A charge of first-degree manslaughter was dismissed.

The St. Cloud Times reports the boy was choking and not breathing when deputies responded to a home in Santiago Township last November.

Angell initially told investigators the toddler started choking while in his care, but later admitted he put a pillow on the boy's face.

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