Mother Who Wanted Son, 3, to ‘Sweat Out’ Illness Charged After He Collapsed at Park and Died: Police

A 35-year-old mother in Burnsville, Minnesota is facing multiple charges — including manslaughter — following the shocking death of her young son after he collapsed at a park in June 2023.

After an investigation into the death and short life of 3-year-old Adnan Abdullahi, his mother, Saynab Abdullahi Dahir, has been arrested and is now facing one count of second-degree manslaughter, four counts of child endangerment, and one count of harassment – stalking.

The investigation began after Adnan collapsed in an Eden Prairie park on June 4, 2023. He was immediately transported to a hospital where he ultimately died on June 13, per the charging documents reviewed by The Minnesota Star-Tribune and ABC affiliate KTSP.

When first responders arrived on the scene after a witness called 911, they found Adnan collapsed and in cardiac arrest, per the report. They also observed the boy appeared to be malnourished, detailing his physical condition.

He was described as having “clearly visible” ribs, with his “joints quite swollen and very poor limb development.” Medical personnel also described the boy having several missing or broken teeth.

Saynab told first responders he’d been sick for about a week before his collapse and had refused to eat solid foods starting the day before, which left him tired, according to court documents.

She further said she thought he was starting to get better, per the report, but when she gave him water that day because she thought he looked dehydrated, his eyes had rolled into the back of his head. It was when this happened, police say, that Saynab cried out for help, leading a bystander to call 911.

The mother also allegedly told authorities that she had brought her son that day to the beach because he needed to “sweat out” whatever illness he was suffering from.

After he was transported to the hospital, medical personnel noted that he was severely malnourished, as well as underweight and, as his mother suspected, dehydrated. A CT scan showed volume loss in his brain, per documentation seen by KTSP, leaving doctors concerned that he was suffering poor brain growth due to malnutrition. Despite being three, he reportedly only spoke in simple words.

When asked about his condition, Saynab allegedly told doctors he hadn’t eaten for two or three days and that he would not swim with the other children at the beach. She reportedly denied his other symptoms.

When asked why she had not brought Adnan or his four siblings for their wellness checkups, Saynab allegedly said it is because she is “too busy with the kids.”

Court documents also state during the time Adnan was hospitalized, before his death, his mother “repeatedly interfered” with his medical equipment. At one point, she refused to stop touching the equipment and she had to be removed from his room, per the report.

Documentation also alleges that Saynab interfered with her son’s recovery directly, with claims that she manipulated his jaw to make him bite his own tongue, pushed on his chest, putting pressure on his airway and rubbing his throat. Ultimately, she was only allowed to visit her son with someone else present.

Nine days after he was admitted to the hospital, Adnan died. The medical examiner determined his immediate cause of death as a brain injury after his cardiac arrest, but detailed finding several other issues. According to the report, the boy had a staph infection, strep throat and bronchopneumonia, as well. Contributing factors in his death were listed to include an E. coli urinary tract infection and malnutrition.

As a result of Adnan’s medical condition and death, Burnsville police looked into her other four children, listed as 5, 6, 7, and 9 years old. Her husband had recently left the country to care for a sick parent and told police he barely recognized his youngest son when he returned, per police files.

He said that his wife had a history of not taking their children for medical treatment or care when they were sick, even though he gave her money for food and medical care. Police left the four children in his care, at which point they purportedly began to share with their father what their lives had been like with their mother while he was away.

Both the father and later police spoke with the other four children when they started sharing alleged restrictions and punishments related to food.

According to documentation, the children claimed that they were not able to eat more than a spoonful of food at a time. They further claimed to their father that Saynab would force them to throw up if they gained weight.

To trigger vomiting, each of the children separately told police that their mother would sometimes sit on them or stick something down their throats. Two of the children alleged that Saynab triggered vomiting in their deceased younger sibling after he’d become sick.

Additionally, the children alleged that she would put objects in their throat or “massage” their throats as a form of medication.

She explained to them, per the children, that if they did these things they would never have to go to the doctor. The children told their father that doctors are not good people and that they kill people, as detailed in the reports.

On top of that, the children claimed that if any one of them were to whine or complain while she was making another vomit, she would make them throw up as well. Ultimately, they said they learned to stop complaining as they didn’t want it to happen again.

All of the children were observed to be underweight when first taken from the custody of their mother, and quickly showed significant gains after they were placed in their father’s care.

Saynab Abdullahi Dahir is next scheduled to appear in court on August 6.