Background: The Mankato, Minn., apartment where first responders found baby Remington Morningstar unresponsive on Oct. 1, 2025 (Google Maps). Inset (left): Omni Maxx Morningstar (Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office). Inset (right): Remington Morningstar (Mankato Mortuary).
A Minnesota man has been charged with manslaughter after his 10-month-old baby died of asphyxiation.
Omni Maxx Morningstar, 26, posted bond after being booked into the Blue Earth County Jail on a charge of manslaughter. According to Mankato city officials, Morningstar was arrested on Monday following an investigation into the death of his 10-month-old son Remington. A criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime said that Morningstar put his son down for a nap on Oct. 1, 2025, placing him face down on a bed and then putting a 20-pound weighted blanket on top of him.
Police said Morningstar then went into his bedroom, shut the door, and put on headphones while he chatted with friends on Discord.
According to the complaint, officers and firefighters responded to a medical call at 3:54 p.m. from the apartment in Mankato, Minnesota, where Morningstar lived with Remington and the baby's mother. Police said when a firefighter asked Morningstar what the call was about, he responded that it was about "a practically dead baby."
Police said the baby had no signs of life when they found him. His hands and feet were cold, but his body temperature was high. Remington was pronounced dead at the hospital at 4:54 p.m.
Morningstar told officers at the scene that he took the baby's temperature earlier that day and it was 104.7. According to the complaint, he told officers that his son's temperature was "only 105, but you know what's interesting, [he] exhibits the same symptoms as someone was 108." He said Remington felt like he was "on fire," and his lips were blue.
Police said Morningstar told them he put Remington down for a nap in the bedroom at 11 a.m., placing him face down with a 20-pound weighted blanket over him, covering his body up to his shoulder blades. He did not check on him again until almost 4 p.m. He told officers that he left the baby's bedroom door open, but allegedly went into his own bedroom and closed the door. He then allegedly put on a pair of headphones and started chatting with friends on Discord.
According to the complaint, Morningstar said, "I'm thinking in my head like, [five] hours. Huh. I really do wish I would have checked on him. I mean, it only happened twice before. It spiked two times and we fixed him two times." Morningstar explained to police that Remington was "colicky," and the weighted blanket helped him.
Police said Morningstar also said that he started using a 12-pound weighted blanket during Remington's naps four to five months earlier to keep his legs from moving. He stated that Remington was hospitalized about a month prior to his death when he became overheated, his body temperature reaching 104 degrees. Morningstar told police that "he had been cautioned about using a blanket at the hospital."
Remington's mother told police more about the previous incident, saying that she walked in to find the baby covered "head to toe" with a king-sized comforter. She was the one who took the baby's temperature and called 911. Police said Morningstar told her that he "forgot" about the baby because he "was playing video games."
According to the complaint, Morningstar also admitted to using the blankets to cover Remington's head and would wear headphones to muffle his baby's crying.
The medical examiner determined that Remington's cause of death was probable asphyxia caused by the weighted blanket.
Morningstar was arrested on Monday and bonded out of Blue Earth County Jail on Wednesday. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 16.
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