Updated
Updated · KSTP · Aug 14
Medical Examiner Identifies 4 Victims in Hopkins-Burnsville Killings as Memorial Grows
Updated
Updated · KSTP · Aug 14

Medical Examiner Identifies 4 Victims in Hopkins-Burnsville Killings as Memorial Grows

3 articles · Updated · KSTP · Aug 14

Summary

  • Hennepin County’s medical examiner identified Kristen Brown, 41, Evie Brown, 7, Nathan Brown, 41, and Alice Brown, 78, in the Hopkins-Burnsville killings discovered Wednesday.
  • Search warrants say Nathan Brown killed his wife and daughter with a screwdriver at the family’s Hopkins home daycare before killing himself; Alice Brown, described by police as a close family relative, was later found dead in Burnsville.
  • Six children inside the daycare were physically unharmed after a parent who arrived for drop-off heard screaming and called 911, according to investigators.
  • Court records say Kristen Brown had sent at least one letter about two weeks earlier saying the daycare would close because of “relationship issues with Nathan.”
  • Flowers, a candle and a plush toy now line the sidewalk outside the Hopkins daycare as the community mourns the killings, which authorities have tied to domestic abuse.

Insights

What hidden domestic fractures led a man to shatter the safety of a quiet Minnesota day care?
Could upcoming child care regulations ever prevent a deadly domestic tragedy, or are such threats impossible to stop?
How will the six young children who survived this horrific morning overcome the invisible scars of trauma?