GUILTY VT - Isaac Robitille, 13, disabled, dies of alcohol poisoning, Hardwick, 22 Aug 2014

[Rayemonde]

She writes in May that she's having a stressful day because of car problems, and also Isaac's leg was broken but not seen til the next day, then just splinted until the specialist could see it, so he's in a lot of pain and won't stop "tantruming". A few days later she writes that the drs will probably have to rebreak his leg to set it properly. Boyfriend promises to help her get through it. No mention of how the leg got broken.

 

[Rayemonde]

Walter's youtube, including a video of him talking about his "mental illnesses" (on his fb he claims to suffer from depression, anxiety, possibly PTSD and mild OCD, and is on disability):
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLongTimeObserver/videos

I've had a look at MR's blog, facebook and twitter and she says that Isaac was legally deaf/blind, but he obviously could see and hear a little because he liked looking at fairy lights, being read to and spoke American Sign Language. He went to special school and had a vivid imagination - when he heard his mum typing, he imagined that chickens were pecking the keys, and imagined that chickens wrote his mom's novels. He had good friends at school, even having a tantrum because his best friend was off sick and he missed her, and loved going to the petting zoo.

 

[Rayemonde]

MR's twitter:
https://twitter.com/mahrial

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

I'm going to reserve judgement on mom for right now. She seemingly took care of Isaac the best she could for thirteen years. His numerous disabilities had to be daunting. She obviously loved him as a mother should for those years. Seeing that the BF admitted to pouring vodka into the IV it sounds like mom likely isn't complicit.

I have a hard time believing this mother could care for him so well all those years and then just give up on him because a BF has come around. Having been a member of WS, I know it happens. I'm just not getting that feeling here.

R.I.P. Issac.

 

[Rayemonde]

MR claims to have an IQ of 189 and should have known that pouring vodka in his IV line could kill Isaac. Why put it in his IV line and not his stomach tube? :/

Richters told police in an interview Tuesday that he drank a fifth of vodka and played video games. He said he had asked Robitille if he could give Isaac a little vodka "as he was acting fussy" and she answered that it wouldn't hurt. He said he poured into the IV bag for about two seconds. Richters said he then passed out in a chair, and when he woke up the next morning, Robitille had already found Isaac dead.

Richters said he and the boy bonded when Isaac hugged him during a nap.

Robitille told police that she had drunk three or four beers the same night and initially said she gave Isaac about 3 teaspoons of vodka. She later changed her story to agree with Richters' version of events, police said. She plugged in a baby monitor because she was worried about the vodka, court records show.

When police asked what she would say if Isaac were there, she said: "I'm sorry baby," according to court records.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index....rge_for_putting_alcohol_in_teens_iv_tube.html

Disturbing post by WR 5 days before Isaac's death. MR "liked" this post.

 

[thefragile7393]

His postings are annoying. Pretty big ego going on there...bit of a know-it-all. One if those ppl who is highly intelligent and finds himself superior to others he considers of lower intelligence. His "I do know I will be a rock for her" just grates me....he made it about him, not Isaac

 

[Rayemonde]

http://www.wcax.com/story/26797524/murdered-teen-spent-time-in-vt-dcf-custody

DCF now confirms that problems in Isaac's home date back at least seven years. The state removed Isaac from his mother in 2007. The exact reason is not clear. But a DCF expert recommended he go back to her in 2008. In May of this year, three months before his death, DCF got a new complaint about Isaac's care. The state says it investigated concerns about a third-party caregiver-- not Isaac's mom-- and the complaint was not substantiated. So Isaac stayed at home with the same care plan in place.

She also has an 18 year old son (she was 17 when she had him) who lives at home, and 3 daughters who do not live at home. On her blog she says this is due to family drama she'd rather not go into.

 

[Rayemonde]

http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/st...iv-alcohol-death/38439/zdYPcBHTwES9gkamjwzexw

According to court documents, his feeding schedule was very strict and didn't include any "treats." A caretaker told police Isaac's stomach could not handle anything outside that strict diet.

An autopsy found that Isaac's blood alcohol concentration was 0.146 percent, and there was also caffeine in his system.
She and other neighbors remembered Isaac's father bringing Isaac around the neighborhood, until the father passed away.

"It seemed like a very loving situation over there," Shank said.

"I've never seen Isaac out after that," said William Bartlett, another neighbor.

Court documents show Richters admitted to pouring the vodka in the IV bag, because Isaac was being fussy. He told police he asked Robitille's permission to do it. Robitille first confessed to pouring the vodka in herself, then changed her story to match Richters version.

Both adults were drinking that night, and went to bed knowing that Isaac had the vodka in his system.

 

[Rayemonde]

. The days following [her son's death] , Robitille was back on Facebook sharing posts about Gaza, taking quizzes, sharing pictures and giveaways.

https://www.viralglobalnews.com/201...with-murder-by-alcohol-of-disabled-son/18957/


http://www.viralglobalnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/walter-facebook-1.jpg

 

[Rayemonde]

Walter Richters, of Hardwick, appeared in a St. Johnsbury court Tuesday to try to get his charge reduced to manslaughter...

Lawyers from both sides agreed that Richter's charge could be reduced in exchange for his testimony against the 38-year-old Robitille, who is also facing a second-degree murder charge.

But a judge says the deal, carrying a four to 15 year sentence with 18 months to serve, is not strong enough.

http://www.necn.com/news/new-englan...-Man-Charged-in-Child-IV-Death-323824381.html

 

[blefuscu]

Something went crazy wrong here. The father of Isaac died in the January and she had 4(?) other children of which 3(?) had been removed from her care? Not making excuses but I wonder if she was having some kind of breakdown? Isaac hadn't been seen around the neighbourhood since his dad died. I wonder if she was out of her depth and struggling to cope. Not that it makes giving a child vodka any more reasonable. I wonder how much added pressure the new boyfriend was also causing? Seems he liked his alcohol if he's drinking enough to pass out. That wouldn't make things any easier in the home

 

[Rayemonde]

Man admits to using vodka to kill child

He's pleaded guity to manslaughter.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/10/29/vodka/8hjBAlzK5qp4eHjByHQbQI/story.html

 

[0101ABA]

A Vermont man who admitted to killing his girlfriend's severely disabled child by putting vodka in the boy's feeding tube has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Walter Richters of Hardwick was sentenced Tuesday in St. Johnsbury under a plea deal with prosecutors. He was given credit for 1 1/2 years he's already served.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-sentenced-killing-boy-vodka-iv-line/

 

[thefragile7393]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-sentenced-killing-boy-vodka-iv-line/

How in the world did he get A) 3 years for killing a child and B) credit for time served???

 

[pukasonqo2]

only three years fir deliberately putting vodka on this child's feeding tube?


Lupus est homini, non , quom qualis sit non novit

 

[Rayemonde]

What?! Unbelievable!!

 

[neesaki]

I haven't found anything about when MR's trial is going to be. Does anyone else know ? TIA

 

[Rayemonde]

November 2017:

Melissa Robitille, 41, has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for manslaughter following the alcohol poisoning death of her disabled son...


Robitille's own relatives asked the judge for a harsh sentence, painting her as an abusive, neglectful mother.

'The swath of destruction that this woman has laid behind her is wide and deep,' Isaac's uncle David Robitille said.

'He was a very smart, strong young man that adapted to all of his imperfections. He knew and could tell everyone that touched him by a sign that they gave him,' said Lottie Allen, Isaac's former foster mother...
The defense tried to paint her as a loving, devoted mother who made a mistake, citing a blog that she kept about Isaac's condition.

'He has holoprosencephaly - an anomaly in which the fetal horseshoe-shaped brain doesn't fully divide into two hemispheres,' she explained. 'The doctors said he wouldn't live to be six months old.'

He's got a bunch of other differences, but he's a delightfully happy little boy, loves math, hugs, kisses, and his dog (her name is Tickle – he named her!), and hates physical therapy.

'He speaks mostly tactile [American Sign Language]... I adore him.'

Richters also posted fond messages and pictures about the boy on Facebook and defended himself while lambasting the police response.

A day before his arrest in 2014, he wrote: 'The police now want to ask us more questions tomorrow. The boy was well taken care of and loved. His time was his time. This is injustice and a bag of rock salt in this families wounds [sic].'

Five days after the boy's death, he also claimed on Facebook that an autopsy had been performed on the child's body, even though Robitille told authorities she hadn't wanted 'her baby desecrated if it could be helped'.

'We have nothing to fear but everything to be angry about,' he wrote. 'We aren't criminals.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...n-gets-prison-vodka-death-disabled-child.html

 

[Rayemonde]

May 2019, Melissa Robitille loses her appeal:

"Although IR's (Isaac Robitille) doctors would not have expected one ounce of alcohol to kill him, he weighed forty-nine pounds at the time; he was extremely vulnerable to fluid imbalances due to his diabetes insipidus and other conditions; even a small amount of alcohol could be fatal," said the ruling.

Mother who put vodka in disabled son's feeding tube leading to his death gets appeal rejected in court

 

[Rayemonde]

September 2019, Melissa Robitille appeals again:

Robitille's current lawyer argues that defense attorney, Rob Sussman, didn't present the jury with accurate information regarding Richters, the state's key witness.

The Caledonian-Record reports the Vermont Supreme Court in May denied Robitille's earlier appeal that the state produced insufficient evidence to support a conviction.

Woman convicted in disabled child's death appeals again