Red Lake woman found guilty of neglect after 2022 death of child
May 1—RED LAKE, Minn. — A Red Lake woman has been found guilty of felony child neglect following the 2022 death of a child in her care in Red Lake Nation.
The ruling comes after 63-year-old Sharon Rosebear was
indicted for child neglect
in June 2023.
Rosebear and her co-defendant, Julius Fineday Sr., were both federally charged in 2023 after the child's death, the release said. Rosebear was charged with felony child neglect resulting in substantial harm, and Fineday was charged with second-degree manslaughter.
According to evidence presented at trial, Rosebear intentionally deprived the child of necessary food and health care throughout 2022, which ultimately led to the child's death.
Evidence showed that the child died from the effects of starvation and infection, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The evidence shown at trial established that, as one of the child's caretakers, Rosebear was able to provide for the child's nutrition and health care, yet she "intentionally deprived (the child) of those basic needs by withholding food and by looking the other way while (the child's) health deteriorated."
This included evidence revealing that health care and transportation to receive it are free within the Red Lake Nation and that "all of the adults and children involved in the case received nutritional and cash assistance adequate to meet their basic need," the release said.
According to the release, the child died at the same weight she had been nearly three years earlier. Evidence also showed that Rosebear was aware of the child's severe lice infestation, but she kept the child isolated instead of seeking medical attention for her.
Medical testimony showed that the type of infection the child had when she died could have entered her body through scratches in her scalp related to the unaddressed lice.
The testimony also established that the child's prolonged starvation may have been "an independently sufficient cause of death, or may have severely compromised (the child's) immune system's ability to fight infection," the release said.
Following a six-day trial in U.S. District Court, Rosebear was found guilty of felony child neglect. Fineday entered a guilty plea to his charge before his trial in March 2022. Their sentencing hearings will be scheduled at a later date.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department.
