Man Who Killed Child Pleads Guilty, Faces 40 Years in Prison

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ A Crystal man accused of fatally beating his girlfriend's 2-year-old son has pleaded guilty.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says the plea for 22-year-old Quran Mitchell calls for a 40-year prison sentence.

Authorities say the boy's mother called 911 on the night of Feb. 11 because her son was not breathing. Paramedics found the child bruised and unconscious. He died the next night.

Mitchell, the boy and his mother rented a room in the Crystal home of another family. A woman living elsewhere in the house said the night paramedics were called, she heard loud thuds coming from Mitchell's apartment, followed by the sound of the boy crying.

Freeman says Mitchell admitted to hitting the child several times.

Mitchell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He is not the boy's father.