WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) -- A Wausau babysitter knew an infant was dead before returning him to his mother.
The Wausau Daily Herald is reporting that Marissa Tietsort, age 28, tried to hide the death of a 2-month-old infant in her care from his mother. She was charged on Friday for 1st-Degree Intentional Homicide for the death of the infant.
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Tietsort knew the child had died in her care but did not tell the mother when she came to pick up her son according to a criminal complaint. When the infant was dropped off at Tietsort's home on October 18th he was awake and Tietsort was the only adult in the home.
The mother got a text from Tietsort two hours later that let her know Tietsort was on the news for being charged with child abuse. Tietsort told the mother she was not allowed to be in contact with children and to not tell anyone she was watching her two sons. The mother picked up her sons three hours after receiving the text.
When the mother did come to pick up her sons, the infant was strapped in his car seat in winter clothes with a hat over his eyes. She believed he was sleeping as it was past 9 pm at the time of the pickup. The mother realized her infant son was dead after she brought her children with her to Northway Coin Laundry. It was then 911 was called as the mother tried to perform CPR on her son.
Police found Tietsort early the next morning at the Plaza Hotel in Wausau. She admitted to watching the two brothers the day before and that the infant died while she was watching him. Tietsort told officers she hadn't killed the child, but that she didn't make efforts to resuscitate him or get any medical help.
After realizing the infant had died, Tietsort dressed him in his snowsuit, hat, covered him with blankets, and put him in his car seat. When Tietsort's boyfriend returned at 6:30 pm she did not tell him the infant had passed. She, her boyfriend, their son, and the victims' brother went to eat at McDonald's, where Tietsort brought the dead infant with them.
The boy died of blunt force head injuries according to an autopsy. The infant had three separate head injuries which all occurred around the time of death according to forensic pathologist Robert Corliss. There were also significant injuries to his tailbone that was "fractured, broken off, and displaced, indicating a significant amount of force was used."
Tietsort is now in the Marathon County Jail and pregnant with her sixth child. She is being held on a $500,000 cash bond for the homicide charge. Tietsort is scheduled to be back in court at 1 p.m. on Jan. 18th.
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