Father, stepmother charged in Elk River girl’s death

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, August 18, 2020

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ELK RIVER — The father and stepmother of an 8-year-old Elk River girl were charged Monday with murder after the emaciated girl was found dead in the family’s apartment.

Brett Hallow, 30, and Sarah Hallow, 28, were charged in Sherburne County with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the death of Autumn Hallow.

According to the charges, police came to the home Thursday after being told the girl was partly submerged in a bathtub. The Star Tribune reports police saw Sarah Hallow giving the girl chest compression, even though her body was rigid.

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“Based on the condition of (Autumn’s) body, law enforcement believed (she) had been deceased for some time,” according to the complaint.

Another child who lived in the home told police the couple would tie up the girl with a belt and put her in a sleeping bag, with only her head exposed. She weighed 45 pounds at the time of her death.

Autumn Hallow would sleep in various locations in the apartment while restrained “when she is being bad, as in when she would urinate on the floor or in her clothing or would try to get food,” the complaints read.

Sarah Hallow denied restraining Autumn. She acknowledged the girl was losing weight but did not take her to a doctor.