Little Falls man arrested in connection to death of 14-month-old

September 06, 2023 at 4:11 PM

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. 鈥� A 40-year-old Little Falls man was arrested at his home in Little Falls on Wednesday, Sept. 6, following an investigation into the July death of a 14-month-old girl.

Erik Adrian Blanco is being held in the Morrison County Jail on a charge of felony second-degree intentional murder in connection with the death of Riverlynn VanNorman. Formal criminal charges from the Morrison County Attorney鈥檚 Office are expected later this week, the Little Falls Police Department reported.

鈥淎fter an exhaustive and thorough investigation into this case investigators have arrested Erik Blanco in connection with this heart-breaking tragedy,鈥� Little Falls Police Chief Greg Schirmers said in a news release. 鈥淭his case has deeply affected our community and our thoughts and condolences go out to Riverlynn鈥檚 family during this unimaginably difficult time. The pain and sorrow they are feeling is shared by the entire community. We also would like to express our gratitude to the community for their patience, understanding and support throughout the course of this long and difficult investigation.鈥�

According to a July 10 news release, the Little Falls Police Department responded to a 911 call of an unresponsive child at 9:23 p.m. July 6 at a residence on the 400 block of Third Street Northeast in Little Falls. When officers arrived, they found the child was not breathing and had no pulse.

Officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived and transported the child to CHI-St. Gabriel鈥檚 Hospital in Little Falls, where she was pronounced dead.

The girl was then transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office where, based on its preliminary autopsy, it was determined that she died of multiple head and neck injuries consistent with homicidal violence.

Riverlynn and her mother had been temporarily staying with Blanco, police said, and Blanco was caring for Riverlynn while her mother was away from the home.

The Little Falls Police Department's investigation of the incident is ongoing.

According to state court records, Blanco has been convicted for numerous crimes since 2001 in Morrison and McLeod counties, including felony first-degree assault, felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, felony theft, felony domestic assault and gross misdemeanor DWI.

Assisting at the scene were the Morrison County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service.

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Little Falls man arrested in connection to death of 14-month-old

Erik Adrian Blanco was arrested at his home Wednesday in Little Falls in the girl鈥檚 July death