Woman pleads guilty to infant grandson’s death

Published 9:56 am Thursday, October 1, 2015

APPLE VALLEY — A 49-year-old Eagan woman has pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the 2012 death of her infant grandson.

Johanna Mercedes Limpert Beeler entered the guilty plea last week in Dakota County court. A plea deal filed Sept. 24 recommends a 60-day jail sentence with credit for four days served.

Charges filed in March say Beeler told police she fell asleep with the 2-month-old infant in bed, and that he was unresponsive when she awoke. An autopsy didn’t give a cause of death, but didn’t rule out that he had been accidentally smothered.

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The charges say a preliminary breath test showed Beeler had a blood alcohol content of 0.187 percent about an hour after police arrived, and she was taken to a hospital for a suspected overdose.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 17.