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Murder charges filed in toddler's death

The victim's six-year-old brother was questioned by investigators and told them that Butts regularly choked his mother and siblings, stomped on them and punched their cheeks when they were bad or refused to stop crying.
Credit: Ramsey County Jail
Alontae Butts is charged with second degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's three-year-old son.

ST PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul man stands charged with second degree murder in connection with the beating death of a three-year-old boy. 

Prosecutors say 25-year-old Alontae Kaypre Butts was the main caregiver for the victim and his two siblings, a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, because the child's mother and grandmother worked. On January 15, an ambulance brought the three-year-old to Children's Hospital from his home on the 1000 block of Carroll Avenue South in cardiac arrest with bruises all over his body. The little boy was pronounced dead a short time later, despite lifesaving measures. 

Officers went to the home and picked up the child's siblings for checkups, while Butts was taken to police headquarters for questioning. The two-year-old girl was found to have a scalp laceration, bruising on her side and an enlarged liver. She was transferred to pediatric intensive care to be monitored. 

The victim's six-year-old brother was questioned by investigators and told them that Butts regularly choked his mother and siblings, stomped on them and punched their cheeks when they were bad or refused to stop crying. The boy told police that Butts chokes them to knock them out so they'll go to sleep.

When he was questioned by police, Butts denied hitting the children and said the child who died was acting sick the night of Jan. 14, vomiting and unable to go to the bathroom. Butts said he and the child's mother found him on the toilet, "cold and his mouth was stiff." He had no explanation for injuries and bruising to the child's face and body. 

When told that he was going to be charged with murder and that the child deserved justice, Butts replied "I do, too." He denied claims of abuse made by the six-year-old boy.

If found guilty, Alontae Butts faces a possible 40-year prison sentence. 

 

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