Windom couple charged with child endangerment after infant hospitalized
A Windom couple has been charged with child endangerment after their infant daughter was hospitalized.
Billy James Beckman, 26, and Tristen Nicole Linnenbrink, 22, were each charged Wednesday with misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and disorderly conduct in Cottonwood County Court.
A criminal complaint police were called to a domestic incident at Perkins Creek Apartments on the morning of April 11, where they heard loud banging, yelling, and swearing. Beckman, who was holding the 2-month-old baby, told police Linnenbrink had the child in her arms when she broke down a bedroom door, causing the infant’s head to hit the bedroom wall.
Police noted the baby was not crying despite all the chaos, and an EMT-trained investigator wanted to transport the child to a hospital immediately. The complaint said Beckman did not want an ambulance because of the cost and offered to drive the baby to the hospital. An ambulance was called due to concerns about a serious head injury.
Linnenbrink initially “loudly refused” to provide a car seat for the baby until Beckman let go of the child, according to the complaint. She gave officers the seat “after a short time.” Police say the child’s head was unsupported and “just flopping around” as Beckman tried to unwrap her from a blanket. Investigators say the baby was wearing a diaper that was overfilled with fecal matter that was running down the child’s legs.
The baby was transported to the local emergency room, where detectives observed swelling on the side of the child’s head. The girl was then airlifted to Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls.
