Suad Mohamed Ali (Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office)
A 27-year-old mother in Minnesota was arrested after she allegedly admitted to suffocating her 3-year-old daughter to death because the little girl would not stop crying. Suad Mohamed Ali — who authorities say “smiled the entire time” medics were trying to revive her daughter — was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one count of first-degree murder while committing child abuse, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Pelican Rapids Police Department at about 9:38 p.m. on July 10 responded to a call about an unresponsive 3-year-old at a home located in the 300 block of River Road. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they entered the home and found a family member kneeling over the child, who was lying on her back on the living room floor.
An officer checked on the victim, who was still warm but without a pulse, and began performing CPR.
Other officers found Ali sitting on the couch and asked her what happened to the little girl. In response, she allegedly stated that “she killed her,” police wrote in the affidavit.
Deputies with the Otter County Sheriff’s Office then arrived on the scene to assist with the investigation. A sheriff’s detective spoke with Ali, who allegedly confessed to killing the child a second time. The detective noted that while first responders were performing CPR on Ali’s daughter, Ali herself was “lying on the couch.”
“She stated she placed her hand over the child’s mouth and suffocated her after the child was continuously crying,” the affidavit states. “She stated she had attempted to stab her child earlier in the night with a knife but that she had not harmed her. [A deputy] did find a knife on the arm of a couch in the living room. Defendant [Ali] stated that she purposely tried to kill her daughter.”
Ringdahl Ambulance medics arrived at about 9:42 p.m. and took over performing CPR. During the life-saving procedure, the victim “vomited and turned her head to the side.” The ambulance medics said they observed no visible trauma to the child and asked Ali what had happened to her while still performing CPR.
“The Defendant [Ali] said she shook and suffocated the child while smiling the entire time CPR was performed,” the affidavit states.
The ambulance transported the victim to Essentia St. Mary’s Hospital in Detroit Lakes but unfortunately, she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the facility. Arrangements were then made to have the child’s body transported to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
Authorities booked Ali at the Otter Tail County Detention Facility that evening where she was interviewed by detectives. When they asked what happened to her daughter allegedly she stated for a third time that she “killed her.” Ali further explained that the child’s father had “abandoned them,” and she was raising her daughter with her mother, adding that her mother normally feeds the girl but was not around that day.
Ali also allegedly admitted to punching her daughter in the throat to stop her from crying and claimed that she “laid on top of the child while [the child] was face down on the floor to quit her.”
Ali is currently being kept in detention without bond and will be represented by a public defender.
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