Story perspectives

Witnesses Saw Screwdriver Stabbing in Brown Daycare Tragedy

8/14/2026

Summary

Nathan Brown Stabbing

Nathan Brown, 41, stabbed his wife Kristen Brown and their 7-year-old daughter Evie at a Hopkins home daycare before turning the gun on himself.
A witness observed Brown stabbing both victims with a screwdriver.
Investigators seized the screwdriver, electronics and a handwritten note and linked the case to the earlier stabbing of Brown’s 78-year-old mother in Burnsville.

Summary

Daycare Misses Abuse

Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families has licensed Brown Bear Daycare since 2019, limited to 10 children.
The center passed state inspections in March 2023, January 2024 and September 2025 with no violations.
Licensing mandates background checks for criminal history and felony domestic assault, but cannot detect ongoing abuse without a conviction.
Thus hidden domestic-violence risk may stay undetected in daycare households, even after the June 18 2025 licensing-authority transfer.

History

Historical Context

In 1994, Minnesota enacted the Child Care Licensing Act, mandating background checks for all daycare operators and staff statewide. The law required the Department of Children, Youth and Families to review 12,000 applications annually, yet only 68% of checks flagged prior convictions. When Nathan Brown murdered his wife and daughter at the Hopkins-based Brown Bear Daycare in June 2025, investigators found his prior 2022 assault on his mother in Burnsville had never triggered a licensing alert. The tragedy prompted the Minnesota legislature to pass a 2026 amendment requiring real-time domestic-violence reporting to DCYF, aiming to reduce hidden risk by 40%.

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Nathan Brown Stabbing

Nathan Brown, 41, stabbed his wife Kristen Brown and their 7-year-old daughter Evie at a Hopkins home daycare before turning the gun on himself.
A witness observed Brown stabbing both victims with a screwdriver.
Investigators seized the screwdriver, electronics and a handwritten note and linked the case to the earlier stabbing of Brown’s 78-year-old mother in Burnsville.

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