Dad pleads guilty to 2nd-degree manslaughter in death of 4-month-old son (Golden Valley, Minnesota)

Dad WILLIE ERVIN FRANKLIN III must be one of the worst "caretaker" dads we've reported on here at Dastardly Dads--and we've had plenty. This guy has it all: abuses the baby and then buries him under a heavy blanket. Then Daddy goes to another room so he can smoke a little weed and call an X-rated chat room. He even turns up the music so he can't hear the dying baby cry. What a piece of sh**.

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/82823137.html?elr=KArks:DCiUBcy7hUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Golden Valley dad pleads guilty in death of 4-month-old
Medical examiner was unable to determine the cause of death. Father admitted to neglecting 4-month-old.

Star Tribune

Last update: January 27, 2010 - 9:02 PM

A man who left his crying 4-month-old son face-down on a pillow under a quilt pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the boy's death and is expected to be sentenced to five years in prison.

Willie Ervin Franklin III, 24, quietly answered yes to each question in Hennepin County District Court from his lawyer Ann Remington. He said he was alone in his Golden Valley apartment with his namesake and was unable to calm the child. Franklin said he threw a baby bottle at Willie Franklin IV, bruising him. Then he put the baby face down on a pillow and covered him with a blanket later determined to weigh 4 pounds.

Franklin then went into another room, smoked marijuana, called an X-rated chat line and turned up the music so he couldn't hear the baby. He admitted being in the other room for 30 minutes. When he returned, the baby wasn't breathing. Franklin called police and tried to resuscitate the infant, he testified.

In a previous court session, the medical examiner said he was unable to determine a cause of the child's death, Remington said. An autopsy revealed no internal injuries to the boy, and he had minimal signs of suffocation.

Franklin is to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. Monday.

ROCHELLE OLSON