Donna Jean Kajune, 29, and Phillip Clifton Boswell, 44, both of Minot, were both charged in May with Class B felony child abuse-victim under 6. Kajune and Boswell made their initial appearances in North Central District Court on May 9 and are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 18.

According to court documents, the charges stemmed from a report to law enforcement on Sept. 17, 2024, of possible child abuse of a child less than a year old who had facial bruising. Kajune and Boswell were identified as the parents/caretakers. Minot police and a Child Protective Services worker responded to the residence and observed extensive facial and neck bruising.

The affidavit of probable cause stated Kajune claimed to not know how the infant had been injured and believed it happened when the infant rolled into the wall. Law enforcement subsequently attempted to interview Boswell and Kajune in the course of the investigation but learned they had left the state.

Kajune and Boswell were taken into custody on Feb. 10 and interviewed at the Ward County Jail. Kajune stated she and Boswell had in the past flicked the infant in the face with a finger when the child would cry or was fussy. Kajune said Boswell was very impatient with the infant, and the bruising appeared after an incident when Boswell was feeding the child. Boswell refused to speak with investigators during the interview.

Phillip Boswell

According to court documents, a household member reported to investigators they had observed Boswell slap the infant in front of them and other family members.

Boswell and Kajune are in custody at the Ward County Jail on $30,000 and $15,000 cash or corporate surety bonds respectively.

Boswell was previously charged with Class A felony child abuse in April 2021 after failing to take an infant with a broken arm to the hospital for up to nine days. According to a Sept. 16, 2021, article published in The Minot Daily News, the Class A felony charge was amended to a charge of Class C felony child neglect after Ward County prosecutors admitted they could not prove Boswell was the one who actually broke the victim’s arm as five other adults also lived in the home at the time. Kajune, who had been charged with Class B felony child abuse, also had her charge amended.

Both pleaded guilty to amended charges and were sentenced by Judge Gary Lee to 360 days in jail, all suspended, with 18 months of supervised probation. The infant in the 2021 case was placed in foster care, and both Kajune and Boswell were ordered to have no contact with the child unless approved or supervised by Social Services.

Kajune was also convicted in 2018 of contributing to the deprivation or delinquency of a minor, a Class A misdemeanor. According to court documents, the charge arose from an investigation into the death of a third infant on Aug. 18, 2017. In the course of the investigation, Kajune, the child’s mother, reported that the child was conceived when she was 20 and the father was a minor between the ages of 15 and 17.