Plea deal reached in Mankato toddler's death
Mar. 2—MANKATO — A Mankato mother has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of her 16-month old son. But she is not admitting guilt
A plea deal reached two weeks before Chelsea Rae Olinger, 28, was scheduled to go on trial calls for the mother to spend five years behind bars.
Olinger entered an Alford plea to manslaughter Monday in Blue Earth County District Court. Second and third-degree murder charges will be dismissed, assuming a judge approves the plea deal.
Jay'Lee Olinger Williams was not breathing and did not have a pulse when Olinger brought him to the Mankato hospital in February 2020. The child was transferred to a Rochester hospital with bleeding on his brain, rib fractures, broken vertebrae and other injuries, according to a court complaint. He died a few days later after tests showed he had no brain activity.
A medical examiner ruled the boy's death a homicide and listed the cause of death as "complications of multiple blunt force injuries."
Olinger first told investigators her son fell down a flight of stairs. She later said his head hit the side of his crib while she was laying him down and she held her hand over his mouth trying to quiet him.
In social media posts, Olinger's mother, Mary Wojciechowski, claims her daughter later said another person was caring for the boy at the time the fatal injuries occurred. But Olinger entered an Alford plea because she did not know if she would get a fair trial, her mother wrote.
An Alford plea does not admit guilt but acknowledges a conviction would be likely if the case went to trial. Olinger's trial was scheduled to start on March 16.
Olinger will be sentenced on May 18. The plea agreement proposes a 90-month sentence.
In Minnesota prisoners typically serve the final third of their sentence on parole. Olinger also likely will get credit for the more than a year she has already spent in the Blue Earth County Jail.
Olinger's older child remains in foster care with a relative, according to court documents.
