State of Minnesota vs. Hunter Matthew McCutchen

On Monday, July 15, 2024, the Honorable Douglas C. Bayley, Judge of District Court, accepted a guilty plea from Hunter Matthew McCutchen, dob 3/9/1996, to the offense of Murder in the Second Degree, With Intent – Not Premeditated, in violation of Minnesota Statute 609.19, Subd. 1(1), in connection with the death of McCutchen’s 8-week-old child that occurred in May 2023.

At the plea hearing, the defendant admitted to committing multiple acts of abuse against his infant son over the period of April 13th to May 23rd, 2023, and also admitted to intentionally shaking the infant on May 23rd, 2023, with enough force to cause the child’s death. The plea agreement calls for an executed sentence of 480 months in prison, representing a 40-year prison sentence which is the statutory maximum allowed under law.

Judge Bayley ordered the Minnesota Department of Corrections to prepare a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled a Sentencing Hearing for September 6, 2024, at 9 a.m. in Goodhue County District Court, Red Wing, Minnesota.
Goodhue County District Court File No. 25-CR-23-1010