Charge: White Bear Lake father caused infant's death while 'blackout drunk'

A White Bear Lake man admitted to becoming "blackout drunk" and smoking pot the night his eight-week-old son suffered a fatal, abusive head injury earlier this year, according to a new murder charge.

Prosecutors in Ramsey County charged 39-year-old Mark R. Forster, of White Bear Lake, on Monday with one count of 2nd-degree murder in connection with the March 22 death of his son, who has been identified as Jackson Dallas Forster .

According to the criminal complaint, Jackson was hospitalized Jan. 31 after turning blue and experiencing seizures, which scans determined were caused by multiple brain bleeds.

Staff at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood alerted police of suspected child abuse and Jackson was transferred to Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.

According to the charge, the infant’s parents worked differing schedules and Forster typically cared for his son in the overnight hours after returning home from work around 1 a.m.

The infant’s mother allegedly told investigators Forster had been a supportive partner and father, but she had concerns that he’d been drinking too much.

According to the complaint, the mother reported Forster took over care of their child around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 31 and she went back to sleep before leaving for work around 7 a.m.

The woman told police she didn’t receive any updates from Forster during the day, but returned home around 1:30 p.m. to find Jackson sleeping in a chair with Forster, who’d reported he’d just finished feeding the baby.

The mother said she contacted a nurse line around 5 p.m. and was instructed to bring Jackson to the emergency room as he’d become tensed up, had twitching in his face and a spasm in one leg as he woke from a nap.

At the hospital, medical providers determined the infant’s injuries “did not occur naturally and that they were likely the result of outside force or trauma,” the complaint details.

'This is all my fault'

According to the criminal complaint, Forster allegedly told a doctor at the hospital he may have dropped his son "or done something" and added he was "not in his right state of mind last night."

In an interview with investigators, Forster told police he "kinda delved into liquor a bit" when he arrived home from work around 1 a.m. and drank approximately five drinks.

He allegedly said he remembered putting Jackson to bed, but did not remember how or when he went to bed.

Forster told police he woke around 6 a.m. to feed Jackson and Jackson slept in his swing afterwards until around 10 a.m., at which time he woke and seemed "fine, fussy whatever."

Forster allegedly said he fed the baby and, at some point, they moved to the bed - however, Forster said he didn't remember doing that.

According to the complaint, Forster said he'd been having a lot of stress at work and admitted to drinking more than usual and smoking a packed bowl of marijuana that morning.

Later, investigators recovered a text message Forster sent, in which he wrote: "Yea. I'm just really upset with myself because I got so blackout drunk last night I don't remember anything. This is all my fault."

In a follow-up interview with investigators, Forster said his partner is not responsible for their son's injuries and he admitted that he could not rule himself out.

According to the complaint, Forster said he had anxiety and may have harmed his child because of his memory lapse, and worried he may have dropped or sat on the child.

An autopsy conducted following Jackson's death determined the infant died from complications of blunt force head trauma.

Additionally, child abuse experts found Jackson's medical findings were consistent with abusive head trauma and severe traumatic injury consistent with a "violent shaking mechanism."

If convicted, Forster faces up to 40 years in prison.