| Stepfather charged with abusing, murdering toddler |
By: DAVID HENKE, Staff Writer
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Posted: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:48 pm
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Tylar Hokanson
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Rural Northfield resident Tylar James Hokanson, 22, was charged with second degree murder in the death of his 18-month-old stepson, Nicholas Miller, on Wednesday morning at the Dakota County Courthouse.
According to the criminal complaint, Hokanson, who lived with his wife — the boy’s mother — and three children on a farm just north of town, told police he shook his 18-month-old stepson on June 19, at their Northfield residence, after the child “threw a fit,” then threw his stepson onto a bed.
Police say that Nicholas died four days later while en route to Chippewa Falls Hospital in Durand, Wis., where his family was visiting Hokanson’s mother and stepfather. The toddler’s body was taken to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy was conducted the next day.
 The autopsy determined that Nicholas died as the result of complications stemming from the shaking, including a subdural brain hematoma and a fractured thoracic vertebra in the child’s back. The preliminary autopsy report listed the cause of death as the result of “multiple blunt force injuries.”
Medical examiners also discovered that Nicholas had sustained a number of previous injuries, including two broken clavicles and several broken ribs, as early as January 2009.
“There’s not much worse in the world than to lose a child, and when it occurs under circumstances of alleged abuse, as the charges we filed this morning indicate, it’s even more disturbing,” said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom at a Wednesday press conference after the charges were filed. “Nicholas Arthur Miller was an adorable little boy who tragically suffered multiple traumatic injuries in his short life span.”
Bail for Hokanson was set at $500,000 without condition or $350,000 with conditions, which include having no contact with Nicholas's mother or any children. His is currently being held in the Dakota County Jail.
— David Henke
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