A Minneapolis man has received a prison sentence of more than 16 years for the fatal fentanyl overdose of his 7-year-old son at his home after the boy ate pills that looked like children's vitamins.

Nelson Randolph III, 46, was sentenced Monday in Hennepin County District Court after jurors convicted him in March of second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Amonre Nelson Randolph. The boy died on Aug. 17, 2022, at a residence in the 1800 block of N. 44th Avenue.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Randolph is expected to serve the first 10½ years of his term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Court records in Minnesota show that Randolph's criminal history includes two convictions for illicit drug possession, two for assault, one for illegal weapons possession and one for domestic assault.

According to the charges:

Police were called to Randolph's home around 7 a.m. about an unresponsive child. Officers and emergency medical personnel determined the boy was dead. The father said he found the boy in a bedroom. His body was stiff, and a white substance was around his mouth.

An autopsy by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Amonre had died from acute fentanyl toxicity.

In a search of Randolph's home about six weeks later, police found in a bathroom baggies that are commonly used to store illegal drugs and various tablets. Officers also detected a strong odor of bleach in the bathroom and seized guns and ammunition. A white pill later tested positive for fentanyl and methamphetamine. A green pill tested positive for fentanyl.

"Because of the shapes and colors of the pills, their appearance was similar to chewable children's vitamins," the complaint noted.

Questioned a few days after the search, Randolph admitted to using drugs but said he never left them "out at his home [and] doesn't use fentanyl at all," the criminal complaint said.