The mother of an 8-month-old boy who died of a fentanyl overdose at a Roseville hotel in 2022 has been charged with manslaughter.

Wynona Ann Littlewolf, 29, was charged by warrant Thursday in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of second-degree manslaughter in connection with her son’s death. Littlewolf, who is currently incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee on a second-degree burglary conviction out of Cass County, was listed as a resident of Cass Lake, Minn.

Wynona Ann Littlewolf (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Corrections)

According to Thursday’s criminal complaint:

St. Paul police were sent to a business in the city’s St. Anthony Park neighborhood around 2:45 p.m. March 12, 2022, on a report of a baby who was blue, unconscious and not breathing. Medics responded and pronounced the boy dead. Medics said he was already in rigor mortis and his body seemed abnormally cold.

Littlewolf and her boyfriend said they had stayed overnight at the Roseville DoubleTree and found the boy was purple when they awoke in the afternoon. They left for a hospital, but stopped at the business for help after getting lost.

Littlewolf’s boyfriend, identified in the complaint as CM, told officers he had a traumatic brain injury and has trouble remembering details. He said they put the baby on his stomach in his crib and that he was blue and not breathing when they woke up. He said he uses marijuana, but no other drugs. He said Littlewolf uses heroin.

Littlewolf told officers they put her son to sleep in a crib between 3 and 4 a.m., and soon fell asleep. She said they didn’t check on the infant after waking up around noon. Once they discovered he was purple and not breathing, she said, they panicked and immediately left the hotel to get help.

Officers learned Littlewolf and CM had checked into the hotel on March 11 and were scheduled to check out two days later. Officers recovered drug paraphernalia from the room: a burnt piece of tin foil in the bathroom and a rolled-up dollar bill on the floor. Tests on both showed the presence of fentanyl. Littlewolf’s blood also tested positive for fentanyl.

An autopsy on her son concluded he died of fentanyl toxicity.

Littlewolf agreed to speak to investigators from prison on March 30, 2023. She said she, her son and CM had been the only people in the hotel room. She said her son was starting to eat solid foods and had just started crawling and standing up. She said he crawled on the hotel floor during their stay.

Littlewolf said she and CM had argued after dinner and so she went into the bathroom to calm down and smoke heroin. When she left the bathroom, she found CM and her son asleep on a bed. She moved the infant to his crib.

When shown a photo of the rolled-up dollar bill, Littlewolf gasped and said, “Oh my god,” the complaint states.

When asked if she was responsible for her son’s death, Littlewolf replied, “I think I should have been watching him more,” the complaint states. “Okay, I should have been, you know, I should have been watching him a lot more, but I pushed him off to [CM].”

Littlewolf has two other felony convictions, besides the one for burglary: felon in possession of a firearm/ammunition in February 2016 and possession of a fifth-degree controlled substance (methamphetamine) in November 2022.

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By LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is expected to announce Friday that it will provide about $6 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said, adding that it will include much sought after munitions for Patriot air defense systems.

The officials said the aid package will be funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term contracts with the defense industry and means that it could take many months or years for the weapons to arrive. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The new funding — the largest tranche of USAI aid sent to date – will include a wide array of munitions for air defense, such as the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAM) and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), as well as the Patriot munitions, Switchblade and Puma drones, counter drone systems and artillery.

The announcement is expected to come as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin convenes a virtual meeting on Friday of defense officials from Europe and around the world to discuss international aid for Ukraine. The gathering — created by Austin and known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — has been meeting about monthly for the past two years, and is the primary forum for weapons contributions to Kyiv for the war.

It follows the White House decision earlier this week to approve the delivery of $1 billion in weapons and equipment to Ukraine. Those weapons include a variety of ammunition, including air defense munitions and large amounts of artillery rounds that are much in demand by Ukrainian forces, as well as armored vehicles and other weapons.

That aid, however, will get to Ukraine quickly because it is being pulled off Pentagon shelves, including in warehouses in Europe.

The large back-to-back packages are the result of the new infusion of about $61 billion in funding for Ukraine that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Wednesday. And they provide weapons Kyiv desperately needs to stall gains being made by Russian forces in the war.

Bitterly divided members of Congress deadlocked over the funding for months, forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson to cobble together a bipartisan coalition to pass the bill. The $95 billion foreign aid package, which also included billions for Israel and Taiwan, passed the House on Saturday, and the Senate approved it Tuesday.

Senior U.S. officials have described dire battlefield conditions in Ukraine, as troops run low on munitions and Russian forces make gains.

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, the U.S. has sent more than $44 billion worth of weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine.

Among the weapons provided to Ukraine were Abrams M1A1 battle tanks. But Ukraine has now sidelined them in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press.

The box score shows that Twins right-handed starter Simeon Woods Richardson did not get the decision in Thursday’s win over the Chicago White Sox. But a decision with far more consequences did go his way.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli revealed before the game that the 23-year-old Woods Richardson had earned a spot in the Twins’ starting rotation. He essentially switches spots with Louie Varland, sent down to the Saints earlier this week after struggling as a member of the rotation.

Asked what it felt like to be part of the rotation, Woods Richardson said: “Long time coming. A lot of hard work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the years.”

“It’s actually a sense of humbleness, one, thankfulness, gratitude,” he added. “But it’s time to get back to work. We’re still trying to get better, we’re still trying to learn. We’re still trying to ask questions of all these guys and trying to be a better pitcher.”

Woods Richardson came to the Twins from Toronto in 2021 along with Austin Martin in the trade that sent Jose Berrios to the Blue Jays. He currently is ranked the No. 24 prospect in the organization by MLB.com.

Woods Richardson said he was told he was going to pitch on Thursday earlier in the week, but the Twins didn’t announce it until after Wednesday night’s game, with Bailey Ober’s start pushed back a day.

“With Lou’s spot in the rotation opening up, we obviously had a place there,” Baldelli said. “We had an option on when to throw Simeon. It allowed us to push some of our guys back; get Bailey the extra day more than anything else.

“Bailey is doing great, but if we can get him an extra day, I think that makes some sense. Sim was also ready to throw; this was his day to pitch. It all kind of just pointed to today.”

Until now, Woods Richardson had been used as an emergency starter for the Twins, with him returning to the Saints after the game. Baldelli praised the way Woods Richardson handled a difficult situation, showing maturity beyond his age.

“It’s not easy going back and forth, and not really knowing where you’re going to be,” the manager said. “He knows where he stands. He knows as a young player you’re going to have to prove yourself.

“You have to be able to take advantage of the opportunities whenever and wherever they come from. He’s handled everything well.”

Correa getting close

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa, sidelined since April 13 because of a right intercostal strain, has resumed baseball activities and will be with the team on the road trip that begins Friday night in Anaheim, Calif. He could be back in the lineup before the team returns from the six-game trip.

“I don’t want to make any statements because I don’t know what his next four or five days are going to look like,” Baldelli said. “But he’s put himself in a good spot; he’s had no setbacks.

“The injury proved to be what we thought it was — a mild strain. So, he can do a lot. We want to make sure he can do everything pain free. It’s been very positive.”

Farmer’s struggles

Twins infielder Kyle Farmer, whose offensive struggles continue, was not in the lineup on Thursday. The 33-year-old Farmer, a lifetime .250 hitter, is hitting .067 this season and is hitless in his past 14 at-bats.

Baldelli spent some time with Farmer in his office prior to the game.

“Everybody needs to converse, to talk about some things and get your mind off of some things,” Baldelli said. “This might be one of those times for Kyle. He’s going to be fine.”