A Minnesota father has been sentenced to four years in prison for causing the death of his 9-year-old daughter by refusing to take her to the hospital during a severe asthma attack. Instead, he chose to treat her with a steam bath and home remedies, prosecutors said.
Anthony Modrow, 35, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the girl’s 2024 death. According to court documents from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the sentence requires Modrow to serve a minimum of two-thirds of the prison term, with the remaining one-third as supervised release.
Prosecutors said Modrow and his wife, Rachel, 36, ignored the severity of their daughter’s condition. The child was reportedly blue, struggling to breathe, wheezing heavily, and unable to raise her arms during the attack, which began while she was at a sleepover.
The girl’s friend’s mother offered to take her to a doctor, but the Modrows refused, saying they would treat her at home. Later, a family friend, called by the girl’s aunt, came to check on them and took the child to a medical facility after noticing her skin was blue, she was crying, and unable to raise her arms.
The complaint said Modrow ran a steam bath for his daughter but only agreed she needed hospital care after the family friend insisted. During this time, the girl was using her grandmother’s inhaler because her parents did not have one for her.
Medical experts consulted after the incident stated that early intervention could have saved the girl’s life. A Pediatric Critical Care doctor explained that steam baths are not a recognized treatment for asthma and emphasized the importance of having a proper rescue inhaler. Using someone else’s inhaler may not be effective, as it might not contain the right medication. Another doctor who treated the child in the hospital stressed that earlier medical treatment leads to better outcomes.
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