Minnesota daycare worker confesses to murder in child suffocation case

A daycare employee in Minnesota confessed to suffocating an eleven-month-old boy to death and attempting to kill a four-month-old girl last fall and is now being charged with second degree murder, and first and third degree assault.

Savage Police Chief Brady Juell shared that the daycare worker, Theah Russell, 18, confessed to “intentionally suffocating ” the two babies in an “attention seeking act” when she was arrested on Tuesday.

“She provided detailed descriptions of how she carried out the attempts against the life of the first victim on two separate occasions, and she confessed to the murder of Harvey Muklebust,” Juell said during a press conference.

Police visited Rocking Horse Ranch daycare center on September 22, 2025 to respond to a 911 call reporting that a 11-month-old child, now identified as Harvey Muklebust —was not breathing. Muklebust was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Just hours before that 911 call was made, a four-month-old infant was found with blood around her nose and mouth, but police were not called for that incident.

Three days prior to Muklebust’s death, police arrived at the daycare center responding to a call made about the same four-month-old infant who was found unresponsive. The cause was deemed to be a medical emergency and she was transported to the hospital.

Authorities opened an investigation into Muklebust’s death, and found that Russell, who had just started working at the daycare three weeks prior, was a “common denominator” of the medical emergencies Harvey and the four-month-old faced.

“Over the following three months, investigators conducted dozens of interviews with daycare staff, parents of children who attended, and various contractors associated with the facility, a clear pattern emerged,” Juell said.

“Thea Russell was a common denominator in each of these incidents. She had last contact with each of the affected children immediately prior to these events,” Juell said.

Juell said that an investigation into Russell’s background revealed that she had a history of “attention seeking behavior,” which included displaying erratic behavior toward other children, starting fires at a church camp, and making false 911 calls.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services suspended Rocking Horse Ranch’s license on Sept. 23.

The confession from the daycare worker comes as Minnesota faces intense scrutiny over an allegation posed by Youtuber Nick Shirley that Somali-run daycare facilities in Minnesota are defrauding taxpayers millions of dollars. As a result the Trump administration has paused all federal funding for child care assistance programs to the state.