Father Faces Murder Charges After Suffocating 14-Month-Old Daughter

DULUTH - A 14-month-old Duluth girl is dead and the prime suspect is her father who is charged with murder."It's a very tragic situation,” said Duluth police Deputy Chief Ann Clancey. “Extremely tragic for one family member to be responsible for the death of another." The father is 30-year-old Christopher Peterson of Duluth. Authorities say he accidentally suffocated his daughter while trying to stop her from crying. The incident happened at about 9:00 p.m. July 5. Hours later, Peterson called the police because his daughter was not breathing. Emergency crews responded to 707 North 9th Avenue East. When they got to the home the infant was already dead. At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, officials said the father didn't mean to kill but it was his actions leading up to the death that makes this case a serious crime."It's a lot of activity for this neighborhood,” said neighbor Bruce Peterson. “It's not something in our neighborhood that really happens much. So it's a pretty quiet neighborhood." Bruce Peterson has lived in the same house his entire life, and when new neighbors moved in a few months ago he knew something was not right. “It's been a few police calls there and some arguing for sure,” Bruce Peterson remembers. “They've been by a few times - four or five times.” According to the criminal complaint, on the night of the death, Christopher Peterson got frustrated with his 14-month-old daughter who wouldn't stop crying. The criminal complaint goes on to read, "He would suffocate her by placing his hand over her mouth and pinching her nostrils closed until she stopped fussing." On the night of July 5, medical examiners say that's exactly what he did. When the baby stopped crying, Peterson laid his daughter on her stomach and went to smoke marijuana. “The St. Louis County Medical Examiner's office later ruled out natural causes finding the manor of death was homicide and suffocation was identified as the cause,” Deputy Chief Clancey explained. Peterson admitted he had done this about five to six times in the past, and would check on her to make sure he had not “done something to her.” In the criminal complaint, Peterson said he doesn’t’ know how long he held her mouth or nose closed, but he had done so until she stopped struggling and felt her tense up. He stated in the past she had always started breathing again and he never intended for her to die. The complaint says the child’s mother was home at the time of the incident and was unaware of what Peterson was doing. “While committing a felony you caused a death whether you intended to or not,” explained St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin. Peterson is charged with 2nd degree murder -unintentional, but Rubin says it's possible for the case to go to a Grand Jury for a more serious charge. “If the reports support that there is a pattern of abuse of this child or other people in the household it could be grounds for murder in the first degree,” Rubin clarified. According to police, Peterson has quite the criminal record. During the incident he was under probation for a domestic assault charge against the child's mother. Peterson was arrested Wednesday morning and is being held in the St. Louis County Jail. The county attorney's office still has some investigating to do, but expects the case will go to trial.