Shakopee man gets almost 5 years in death of baby son

A Shakopee man will stay behind bars for a little more than 2½ more years after pleading guilty in the death of his infant son.

Ryan Husemann Sr., 32, was sentenced Monday in Scott County District Court to 4 years and nine months in St. Cloud prison. He was given credit for the 230 days he already has spent in jail. Under state law, convicted persons spend two-thirds of their sentence in prison and one-third on supervised release.

Husemann pleaded guilty in October to second-degree manslaughter in the death of 5-month-old Ryan Lee Husemann Jr. The baby died Dec. 29 of "positional asphyxia," authorities ruled.

According to the charges, Husemann told police he took his son into a bedroom and locked the door after arguing with the boy's mother the night before. He said he laid the baby on a U-shaped pillow like he'd done "100 times before," and swore that he didn't roll over on the child.

Husemann admitted behind gone for three days before the child's death and said he had used meth all weekend, the charges said. He said the last thing he remembered was feeding the child while lying next to him in bed. When Husemann woke up, the child was face down and not moving.

Pat Pheifer