Newly released autopsy results call Fridley baby's death in March a homicide; no arrests announced

A Fridley baby who died seven months ago sustained injuries from being beaten, and his death is considered a homicide, according to autopsy results released Monday.

Five-month-old Kaiden Rathke died on March 1 at Children's Minnesota Hospital from "multiple blunt force injuries," the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office told the Star Tribune in response to a public data request.

In response to a Star Tribune request to the Anoka County Sheriff's Office about the boy's death, agency spokeswoman Tierney Peters said, "At this time, the investigation is active and ongoing." No arrests have been announced.

However, numerous details about the time leading up to Kaiden's death were revealed a few days after he died in a search warrant affidavit that a Sheriff's Office lieutenant filed seeking court permission to collect potential evidence from the boy's home in the 6200 block of Jupiter Road NE.

According to the filing:

At the hospital on the night of Kaiden's death, his 20-year-old mother told law enforcement she noticed her baby stopped breathing late that morning, but she was able to revive him.

Kaiden's father, 23, came home late that afternoon, and his son "seemed normal."

He said he fed Kaiden, but he soon was making a "gurgling" sound when he tried to change the boy's diaper. Kaiden then vomited and became unconscious, the father said.

He said Kaiden's mother joined in trying to revive him, then they drove the boy to the Fridley Police Department as he called 911. Kaiden died that night at Children's Minnesota Hospital.

The parents described Kaiden as a quiet baby with "no history of traumatic injuries," the filing read.

A statement to law enforcement from the mother revealed that Kaiden's father suffered from depression and anxiety, has a history of angry outbursts and had not taken his medication for more than five years.

The mother advised "she would intervene with these outbursts by taking the infant into another room, or the father would remove himself from the house and go for a drive," the court document continued.

In the moments leading up to Kaiden being taken to the Police Department, according to the mother, she heard crying for about 10 minutes, entered a room and saw the boy's father administering CPR.

A law enforcement search of the home the next day found a small amount of blood that appeared to have been spit up on bedding.