St. Cloud woman pleads guilty to murder of her 3-month-old child

St. Cloud, Minn. (KNSI) – A woman pled guilty to killing her three-month-old child in a Stearns County courtroom on Wednesday.

28-year-old Fardoussa Omar Abdillahi of St. Cloud pled guilty to one count of second-degree murder with intent and then Judge Sarah Hennesy dismissed a charge of first-degree murder.

Leighton Broadcasting’s KNSI News in St. Cloud was in the courtroom when Abdillahi testified that she was hearing voices on November 27th and 28th, 2021. 

Through an interpreter, she told the court that voices told her to strap her three-month-old son into a car seat and leave him in her car outside. 

She told the judge she became worried and went to retrieve him from the vehicle. However, hours later, she testified that she again heard a voice, grabbed a knife and cut her son’s throat.

Abdillahi then said she put the child’s body in a trash bag and threw him in the garbage. After that, she told the court she called her mother and told her what happened.

Investigators found the child’s body, knives and bloody bedding in a dumpster behind the woman’s apartment building.

Abdillahi will be sentenced on October 18th with guidelines calling for her to serve between 21 and 30 years in prison. 

Abdillahi’s lawyer said they will argue for a sentence below the guidelines the next time they’re in front of the judge. 

Abdillahi has undergone multiple mental health examinations and has been ruled competent to stand trial. Defense attorneys say they will use mental illness as to why she should serve less time behind bars.

Abdillahi was born in Djibouti and speaks Somali. She is also not a U.S. citizen and will likely be deported after she serves whatever sentence is imposed by the court. 

Story by Jake Judd / KNSI