White Bear Lake father charged with murder after newborn’s fatal injury

The father of a newborn baby from White Bear Lake who died from head injuries earlier this year has now been charged with second-degree murder.

After his 7-week-old son was hospitalized in January, Mark R. Forster, 39, of White Bear Lake told investigators and the mother of his child that he couldn’t be sure that he did not accidentally harm the boy while looking after him and blacking out from heavy drinking and marijuana use, according to a criminal complaint.

The baby, Jackson Dallas Forster, was taken to the hospital hours later, when he began having seizures and turning blue while under his mother’s care. He died March 22. Blunt-force head trauma was identified as the cause of death by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Prosecutors charged Forster and issued a warrant for his arrest Monday.

According to the complaint:

Around 1 a.m. Jan. 31, Forster returned home from work and took charge of caring for his son until about 2:30 p.m. But when he arrived at home he “kinda delved into liquor a little bit,” he told police.

He said he smoked a bowl of marijuana and had five drinks. He told police he may have dropped the child or sat on him, but he couldn’t remember everything.

Police located a text message he sent to the mother that said, in part, “I’m just really upset with myself because I got so blackout drunk last night I don’t remember anything. This is all my fault.”

After taking over child care around 2:30 p.m., the mother noticed the baby was sleeping longer than usual, was not hungry and his body was tensed up. He eventually started having spasms and was taken to the hospital.

The mother told police Forster had been a supportive partner and father but she was concerned he had been drinking too much. Forster said he had been dealing with anxiety, stress from work and had an alcohol problem for years.