Couple Cleared In Death Of 6-Week-Old Daughter

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minneapolis couple has been cleared in the death of their newborn daughter who suffocated in a laundry basket.

A Hennepin County judge this week found the mother, Cardie Jackson, not guilty of murder and child neglect charges. Charges against the baby's father, Shonwta Jackson, were dropped a short time later.

Six-week-old Imani Jackson was found dead in the laundry basket where she slept in March 2014. A medical examiner found the child had suffocated. Judge Daniel Mabley ruled it wasn't clear whether putting the baby to sleep in the basket would likely cause harm.

The baby's older brother was removed from the Jackson's home following the infant death. Social workers asked that the boy, now 3, be placed in foster care because he had "significant special needs" that weren't being met.