Minnesota Man’s Plea Deal in Child’s Death Includes No Jail Time

Fairmont, MN (KROC-AM News) - A plea deal has been reached in the case involving a shooting last fall that claimed the life of a two-year-old boy in southern Minnesota.

The child was fatally wounded when his four-year-old brother got hold of a handgun belonging to 33-year-old Colton Mammenga of Welcome. Court documents say the weapon discharged and the boy was struck by the bullet.

The deadly incident occurred on the morning of October 15 while the two siblings were riding in the backseat of the pickup truck driven by their mother on a highway near Fairmont. The wounded child was airlifted to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester for treatment, but died two days later.

The criminal complaint alleged that Mammenga left the loaded handgun in a storage pocket in the passenger side front door of the vehicle while he and the mother of the children went back into their residence to grab some items. The mother told investigators that Mammenga would often take his gun off his waistband and place it in the door of the pickup while traveling.

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The court document states that Mammenga admitted to investigators that he had left the gun in the door pocket before he and the mother of the children went into the house. He indicated they were gone for about 3-5 minutes and the older boy had apparently reached into the pocket and grabbed the gun during that short time span.

Mammenga told the investigator that, moments later, while they were traveling on Highway 263 "he heard a loud pop and looked into the back seat and saw blood coming down from the two-year-old's forehead.” He stated that he then grabbed the child and began administering CPR.

The charges also indicate that he told a deputy that he did not notice that his gun was missing from the door pocket until after the shooting. Mammenga was later charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter, a single count of felony child endangerment, and a gross misdemeanor charge of negligent storage of firearms.

According to a Petition to Enter a Guilty Plea that was filed in Martin County Court on Monday, Mammenga has agreed to plead guilty to the child endangerment charge in exchange for the dismissal of all of the other charges. The tentative plea deal calls for a sentence of probation with a stay of adjudication and no jail time. Mammenga would have to participate in speaking events above the negligent storage of firearms.

He is scheduled to formally enter a guilty plea during the court hearing next month.

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