Janel Kay Dierkhising, 53, of Minnesota, has been arrested and charged with second‑degree manslaughter in the death of 2‑month‑old Karson Asfeld, who suffocated in an unsafe sleep setup at what authorities say was an unlicensed home day care in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.
How the boy died
On November 11, 2025, deputies responded to Dierkhising’s home after being told a child wasn’t breathing. They found her performing CPR on Karson, who was then rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead. An autopsy concluded he died from “suffocation due to an unsafe sleep environment.”
Dierkhising told police she had put Karson down for a nap in a portable playard and later found him on his side “with his face in a blanket,” with blue lips and making a wheezing sound. Deputies described the playard as “extremely cluttered”, with a nursing pillow and two blankets inside, contrary to the manufacturer’s warnings that only the provided mattress pad should be used because added bedding can be deadly.
Unlicensed day care and prior warnings
Karson’s mother told investigators she was paying Dierkhising $150 per week to watch him four days a week, and parents of other children said they had seen blankets in the same playard and had told Dierkhising that setup was not acceptable for babies. Dierkhising admitted in an interview that she had been running an unlicensed day care out of her home for about 10 years.
Six years earlier, Stearns County Human Services had sent her a letter explaining when she would be required to get a license; she allegedly responded that she was disabled and not running a day care, even though the county later determined she was doing so.
Charges, bond, and fallout
Dierkhising was arrested on Monday and taken to the Stearns County Jail, though she has since posted bond. If convicted of second‑degree manslaughter, she could face up to 10 years in prison; her next court date is set for May 11.
A GoFundMe page for Karson’s mother, Nicole Asfeld, described her as a new mother devastated by the loss of her baby just as she was beginning to bond with him, calling her grief “a pain no mother should ever have to walk through so soon after giving birth.” The case highlights how seemingly small violations of safe‑sleep rules—piling bedding and pillows in a playard—can turn into fatal risk when combined with a lack of oversight in unlicensed child care.
