Jury finds Minneapolis man guilty of murder in son’s overdose death
A Minneapolis man has been found guilty of two charges filed in connection to the fentanyl overdose of his 7-year-old son.
On Thursday, a Hennepin County jury found 46-year-old Nelson Randolph III guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Randolph was charged with one count of second-degree murder and one charge of second-degree manslaughter on June 9, according to an amended complaint. Initially, he faced a sole count of manslaughter.
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A criminal complaint states Randolph’s son and daughter were dropped off at his home on Aug. 16, 2022. The following morning, police and medics were called to his home after his son was found unresponsive. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
The complaint goes on to say Randolph went into his son’s bedroom shortly before 7 a.m. that morning and noticed a white substance around his son’s mouth. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined the boy died from acute fentanyl toxicity.
When officers searched Randolph’s home the next month, they found baggies of tablets of various shapes and colors, which investigators noted made them look like chewable vitamins for kids. Those pills tested positive for fentanyl.
In a formal interview with police, Randolph said he never leaves any drugs out at his home, and he doesn’t use fentanyl but admitted the pills were his.
Randolph is set to be sentenced on April 15.