Photos of eight-week-old Jackson Dallas Forster were displayed in a Ramsey County courtroom Monday as his father received a prison sentence for causing the head injuries that led to the baby’s death less than two months later. One image showed Jackson in a romper reading “Mommy’s Little Baby,” captured just five days before the injuries prosecutors say were inflicted during a night his father admitted being “blackout drunk.”
Mark Russell Forster, 40, of White Bear Lake, entered a Norgaard plea last month to second-degree unintentional murder. The plea indicates a defendant cannot recall the events because of impairment, but concedes there is enough evidence for a jury to convict. An autopsy concluded Jackson died in March 2024 from complications of blunt force head trauma, according to Kare11.
Judge Sophia Vuelo sentenced Forster to 128 months in prison. The term, which falls at the lower end of state guidelines, was part of a negotiated plea deal. He received credit for 460 days already served. Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Saraswati Singh told the court the agreement spared witnesses and family members the trauma of testifying.
Singh noted Jackson’s mother supplied the photos but stayed home during the sentencing because hearing details of her son’s injuries is too painful. She attended the plea hearing in October but left early, overwhelmed by the testimony. Jackson was brought to a hospital on January 31, 2024, and remained there until his death on March 22 at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital.
Specialists said his injuries were “highly consistent with abusive head trauma,” according to the criminal complaint. Forster told police he returned home from work around 1 a.m., “kinda delved into liquor a little bit,” and put the baby to bed. He said he remembered waking at 6 a.m. to feed Jackson, then placing him in a swing. At some point, he said they ended up in bed together, though he could not explain how.
He later admitted he had also smoked marijuana and “drank more than typical that morning.” Jackson’s mother left for work around 6 a.m. and returned home at 1:30 p.m. to find the baby sleeping unusually long. When he woke, his cry sounded different, and she noticed twitching, flailing, and a leg spasm. After calling Forster and a nurse line, they rushed him to the emergency room.
Investigators uncovered a text message Forster sent to the baby’s mother: “I’m just really upset with myself because I got so blackout drunk last night, I don’t remember anything. This is all my fault.” Singh told the court Forster had two prior DWI convictions in North Carolina. She questioned his statement to probation that he “borderline has an alcohol issue,” saying, “He crossed that line ages ago.”
In a victim impact statement read aloud by Singh, Jackson’s great-aunt said the baby was “showered with love” in the hospital. “We held him and rocked him and baptized him.” Forster wept throughout the hearing. In his statement to the court, he said he has prayed for forgiveness and dreams of Jackson as an older child with “dark hair, a terrific smile, his mother’s eyes and a sweet face.”
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