Minneapolis day care provider pleads guilty to hanging baby

A Minneapolis woman pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted murder for hanging a child at her home day care.

Nataliia Karia, 43, also pleaded guilty to third-degree assault of the 16-month-old boy and two counts of criminal vehicular operation for hitting a pedestrian, another driver and a bicyclist as she fled in her minivan, the Hennepin County Attorney's office said.

Prosecutors say that on the morning of Nov. 18, 2016, Karia told a father who was dropping off his 3-year-old at the day care that "she couldn't take it anymore and come see what she had done." She led him toward the basement and he heard a baby crying, went down the stairs and saw the toddler hanging from a noose formed from two pairs of child-sized tights hanging from a pipe in the ceiling basement.

The man released the child and fled out the door with him, then contacted his wife who contacted police and drove to Karia's house to watch the other children until police arrived. The child survived.

Karia took off in her minivan, triggering havoc on city streets as she hit and injured people with her car and then apparently tried to kill herself.

She rear-ended a car on West 28th Street at Grand Avenue, shoving that car into the car ahead. When the driver of the first car got out to check for damage, Karia pulled into traffic and struck him, dragging him for 10 blocks. At West 28th Street and Park Avenue, she struck a bicyclist, the complaint states. Five other people were also injured by Karia's reckless driving.

"Karia told the court that she had been struggling with mental health issues in the weeks leading up to the incident," the county attorney's office said Thursday, noting that Karia gave up her rights to a trial and to using a mental illness defense.

Sentencing is expected in the spring. She faces up to 15 years in prison.