Kenneth Glad
Two people are due to appear before court following the death of their four-month-old child. Prosecutors have brought separate allegations against the father and mother.
A 23-year-old man from Ringsted, Denmark, has been charged with murdering his infant son, while the child’s mother, also 23, is accused of complicity in the alleged offence.
The allegations are detailed in an indictment obtained by broadcaster TV 2. Both defendants have denied guilt.
Parents face separate allegations
The indictment alleges that the father repeatedly squeezed and violently shook the baby during a seven-week period in 2025. Some incidents are said to have occurred several times in a single day inside the family’s apartment in Ringsted.
Prosecutors say the boy suffered breathing problems and bleeding beneath the dura mater on both sides of the brain. He died on May 26, 2025, when he was just four and a half months old.
The father is primarily charged with murder. The indictment also includes an alternative charge of particularly aggravated assault resulting in death, which the court may consider if the legal requirements for a murder conviction are not established.
The prosecution does not allege that the mother physically harmed the child. Its case against her is based on the claim that she knew about the violence but failed to take sufficient steps to protect him.
According to the indictment, her verbal objections did not stop the alleged assaults. Prosecutors argue that she therefore neglected the duty of care attached to her role as a parent. Her possible liability under the alternative charge is likewise connected to her alleged failure to intervene.
Three-day hearing planned
The boy was born seven weeks prematurely in January 2025 and was admitted to the local hospital in Ringsted near the end of May.
Police arrested both parents on May 25, and they were remanded in custody. Their son died the following day.
The mother was released after than two months, while the father remains in pre-trial detention.
The trial is due to begin at Roskilde District Court on Tuesday, with two further hearing days scheduled later in the week. One professional judge and two lay judges will decide the case.
Under Danish law, murder can be punished by between five years and life imprisonment. The maximum sentence for particularly aggravated assault is six years.
The court must now decide whether prosecutors have proved the allegations against either parent. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Sources: TV 2
