Parents charged with manslaughter in baby's death

A Bloomington couple was charged with second-degree manslaughter for neglect of a child in the drowning death of their 21-month-old son, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Tuesday.

Sabina Pierre Louis, 25, and her husband Eddy Pierre Louis, 54, were charged in the death of Asher Pierre Louis. They are expected to make their first court appearance Wednesday.

According to the criminal complaint, Bloomington police were sent to Fairview Southdale Hospital on the death of a child about 10:20 a.m. Saturday. Both parents were there, along with a nine-year-old daughter.

Eddy Pierre Louis told police that he went to Cub Foods after 8 a.m. and when he returned to the apartment, he and his wife went to their apartment storage room. When they returned, they heard their four-year-old child in the bathroom and the water was running. He went in and found Asher floating in the bathtub, the complaint states. He attempted CPR and water came out of the boy’s mouth. They then drove to the hospital.

Sabina Pierre Louis told police a similar story, but there were enough inconsistencies to make police continue investigating, according to the complaint.

Police obtained surveillance video from Cub Foods and Walmart. The video showed the couple arriving at Walmart at 8:03 a.m. and leaving at 8:48 a.m., the complaint states. Ten minutes later, they entered Cub Foods and stayed until 9:32 a.m. With driving time, they left the children unsupervised for nearly two hours.

When confronted with the evidence, Eddy and Sabina admitted they did not tell the truth when they were first interviewed. In fact, the children were asleep when they left together for the grocery stores and thought they would continue to sleep until they returned home. When they returned, the oldest child was still sleeping, but they heard the four-year-old in the bathroom, went in and discovered the baby in the tub, according to the complaint.

Eddy Criminal Complaint (PDF)

Sabina Criminal Complaint (PDF)