Minn. couple charged with murder in infant daughter's death

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota couple is charged with murder in the death of their 6-week-old daughter, reports CBS Minnesota.

Thirty-nine-year-old Cardie Jackson and 40-year-old Shonwta Jackson are accused of unintentionally allowing their baby to suffocate last March after the infant was left in a laundry basket filled with blankets and a pillow, according to the station. Hennepin County prosecutor Amy Sweasy said that was where the child regularly slept. Second-degree murder charges were filed against the couple on Tuesday.

"Cases that involve the negligent acts of parents that result in significant harm or death are the saddest things we see, because they are by definition preventable," Sweasy told CBS Minnesota.

According to police, the little girl was the couple's 11th child. They had previously lost custody of nine children and a 2-year-old is currently in foster care.

The station reports the couple was partying at their Minneapolis apartment in March and put the baby - who prosecutors say was born developmentally immature - in the laundry basket to sleep. Sweasy said the Jacksons had been warned by a nurse against including pillows or loose bedding in the 6-week-old's sleep environment.

"If both parents would have made a series of different choices, this... would be a happy baby now," Sweasy said.

"The parents chose to drink, the parents chose to disregard the advice of the visiting nurse. [Shonwta] Jackson chose to put the baby face down or on her side," Sweasy said. "We know that, because that's how the baby was found."

The prosecutor said it has taken so long for charges to be filed because there were no obvious signs of distress on the infant.