Mother convicted of killing girl is sued for divorce; custody hearing planned

Author: Staff WriterNews Services

A divorce action has been started and parental rights proceedings are planned against a Robbinsdale woman convicted of shaking her 2-year-old adopted daughter to death last July.

David Ostlund, 39, 4019 Beard Av. N., Robbinsdale, filed the divorce action against his wife, Janet, on April 10.

Janet Ostlund was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for shaking her daughter, Maria, so hard that the child died of brain injuries on July 15. Ostlund, 33, who is appealing the conviction, said the child was injured in a fall from a couch.

An assistant Hennepin County attorney told juvenile court referee Thomas Haeg and other attorneys yesterday that the county will file a petition to terminate Janet Ostlund's parental rights.

The case is in juvenile court because her son, now almost 8 months old, was placed in foster care after he was born in September. The court still has custody. Haeg said he will decide next week whether to approve a schedule for returning the child to his father.