Updated: 08/11/2009 2:23 PM KSTP.com | Print |  Email
By: Nicole Muehlhausen, Web Producer

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Lakeville Woman Accused of Smothering Grandchild

Police say a 45-year-old grandmother admits she was drinking before she smothered her baby grandson.

A search warrant served at a mobile home park in Lakeville by Dakota County officials.

The warrant states that while Tina Miller-Steiner was babysitting her six-week-old grandson Evan Berney, on May 9 she had a blood alcohol content of .12. The legal limit for driving a vehicle is .08.

The warrant says around 10 p.m. that night, Miller-Steiner told a Lakeville Police officer who responded to a 911 call, "I think I killed him!"

The document also says three hours earlier, Miller-Steiner put her grandson on her bed. She told police she drank two martinis around that time and she was taking the prescription drug Paxil.

Miller-Steiner told officers she returned to the bedroom a short time later, and was feeding her grandson, when she fell asleep on the bed.

Miller-Steiner’s 12-year-old daughter woke her up a few hours later because the baby was pale and not breathing.

"Mom, you were laying on him!" her daughter said, according to the warrant.

No one answered the door at Miller-Steiner’s home Wednesday afternoon.

Miller-Steiner has not yet been charged, but police say a report that police will push for manslaughter charges are ‘accurate.’


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