Minnesota father who intentionally dropped 5-month-old son headfirst on floor for being 'fussy and difficult' charged with murder
WOODBURY, MINNESOTA: A Minnesota man was arrested on Friday, August 9, three months after he allegedly dropped his 5-month-old son on his head because he was being fussy.
Matthew Hoisser, 35, of Woodbury, was charged with second-degree murder for the alleged incident that took place on April 24.
Gus, the accused's infant son, died on April 30 after suffering head injuries that included skull fracture, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Washington County District Court, before dropping his boy headfirst on the floor, the father was finding it "difficult" to get the child fall asleep.
Gus “was crying and fussy and was being ‘difficult,’” the complaint states.
“At one point, (Hoisser) was so frustrated he intentionally dropped the infant headfirst into the ground … intentionally causing him to fall to the ground and strike his head on the floor stunning (the baby) and causing him to continue to cry.”
The mother of the child found the victim "noticeably whining and whimpering” and “fussier than usual" the next morning and refusing to take a bottle.
After the child was dropped off at a childcare provider in Woodbury, the latter found the 5-month-old unresponsive after putting him to sleep.
The victim was taken to Children’s Hospital in St. Paul and then transferred to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. He died five days later.
The criminal complaint said that the infant's head injury was so severe it would have left him permanently blind, deaf and unable to move.
Doctors also found evidence of hemorrhaging along his spinal cord.
During his autopsy, the medical examiner also found a second head injury that had “occurred prior to the most recent injury … likely within a week or two of the infant’s hospitalization.”
When asked about it, Gus' father admitted to causing the injury while changing his son’s diaper a few weeks prior to his death.
The boy was laid down on a portion of the floor where the carpet had been cut out, and that was when his “head hit the floor hard enough”.
“G.H. (the victim) was startled by the contact between his head and the floor. The defendant admitted that there were times that he was short with G.H. and that he was not always ‘super gentle’ with the infant. He said G.H. was a difficult baby that had colic and was consistently fussy," the complaint said.
During Hoisser's first appearance in court Friday afternoon, the judge ordered him to stay away from his wife, Nicole, who was 10 months pregnant.
Prosecutors asked for the no-contact order because “if he is able to do this to a 4-month-old, he could do this to his wife and unborn child.”
However, Hoisser’s attorney John Leunig insisted that the no-contact order be reviewed during a hearing set for Monday afternoon.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “His wife is totally supportive of him.”
His bail was set at $350,000.
The victim's obituary said, "Gus was a sweet, beautiful baby, a source of joy to his parents, and beloved by all who knew him. He loved riding on his daddy’s shoulder and hearing his mommy sing, especially ‘Rainbow Connection,’ and will always remain their precious 'Snuggamonkey.'"