Suad Mohamed Ali (Otter Tail County Detention Facility)
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (DAILY JOURNAL MEDIA) – A former Pelican Rapids woman who suffocated her 3-year-old daughter was sentenced in Otter Tail County District Court on Monday.
Suad Mohamed Ali, 29, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder without intent and was sentenced to 150 months or 12 1/2 years.
Judge Sharon Grewell-Benson stated that Ali would serve at least 2/3 of that in prison, with 1/3 of the remainder of the sentence to be served on supervised release. With good behavior and time already served she will serve roughly six years and six months.
Both the prosecution and defense attorneys highlighted that she suffers from extreme mental illness conditions and was not medicated at the time of the murder and showed little to no remorse in the killing of her child.
Appearing in court with an interpreter and her attorney, Ali said very little at the hearing, other than at the conclusion of the sentence being handed down, questioned the specifics of her fines and court fees of $200 and how much time she would actually serve. Benson told Ali that she had ordered the lowest amount allowable for a fine of $50 and that the rest would go to court costs. Benson said she would have an opportunity in prison to pay that off over time.
On July 10, 2023, law enforcement responded to Ali’s Pelican Rapids residence and found her lying on the couch while CPR was being performed on her child by emergency personnel.
She said she had placed her hand over the child’s mouth and suffocated her after the child was continuously crying. She also told law enforcement that she had attempted to stab her child earlier in the night with a knife but that she had not harmed her at that point. Law enforcement later located the knife on the arm of a couch in the living room. Ali admitted to officers that she purposely tried to kill her daughter.
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