I.R.’s father died in January 2014. Defendant met Walter Richters online soon afterwards. In March 2014, she invited him to move from Missouri to live with her, which he did. Richters did not work or take care of I.R. Defendant worked a night shift and relied on caregivers to assist with I.R.’s care.
In August 2014, while the caregivers were on vacation, defendant took time off work to care for her son. On the evening of August 21, 2014, defendant, Richters, and I.R. were at home in the kitchen, and defendant fed I.R. his dinner. Testimony differed about what happened next. Richters testified that defendant poured around one shot of vodka into I.R.’s feeding bag (equivalent to around one ounce).2 Richters admitted during trial that this testimony contradicted vodka into the bag. In contrast to Richters’s trial testimony, defendant testified that Richters poured fifteen cubic centimeters (cc’s) of vodka into the feeding bag (equivalent to around half an ounce). Like Richters, defendant’s testimony at trial contradicted her prior statements under oath in interviews with the police, in which defendant told police that she had poured the vodka. Defendant also testified that she diluted the vodka with water after Richters poured the vodka into the bag. Both defendant and Richters testified that it was defendant who connected the feeding bag to I.R.’s feeding port. They also agreed that I.R. seemed to be experiencing pain that evening, and that Richters suggested administering the alcohol to alleviate his discomfort. However, in defendant’s prior statements with police, she had said that her son was very sleepy that evening, and she had not mentioned any unusual discomfort...
Defendant initially told police that she and Richters had never talked about giving I.R. alcohol prior to August 21, but at trial she said they had been talking about it for several weeks. She told police they were both drinking at a slow pace, and at trial she said that Richters was “guzzling it down pretty darn fast.” She told police she may have given I.R. Mio, an energy drink, and then at trial she was sure she had not. She did not disclose the alcohol in her initial interviews with police, and then when she did so, she said that she had poured the vodka into I.R.’s bag. At trial, she asserted that Richters had poured the vodka...
...defendant and Richters presented conflicting testimony at trial. Defendant testified that Richters poured around half an ounce of vodka into I.R.’s feeding bag, and she added water and connected the bag to his feeding port. Richters testified that defendant poured around an ounce of vodka into I.R.’s feeding bag and then connected the bag to his feeding port. They both testified that after defendant administered the alcohol, I.R. stayed in the kitchen for a short time before going to bed.
43. In addition to this testimony, defendant suggested that during this time before I.R. went to bed Ricthers “could have dumped some of his drink into [I.R.’s] feeding/water bag.” Defendant testified that she was absorbed in playing her video game; Richters got up often to go to the bathroom; he had to walk behind her to get to the bathroom; and I.R. was also behind defendant. She said “t wouldn’t take very long at all” to pour vodka into the bag and that she was not paying attention to Richters at that time...
...prosecutor emphasized that the case was “not about Walter Richters” and was “about the defendant,” who was the “only person who admitted actually giving vodka to her son.” She concluded that either Richters or defendant may have poured the alcohol into I.R.’s bag before defendant attached the feeding bag to I.R.’s feeding port, but defendant was “the one that actually attached that bag to her son’s stomach,” causing I.R.s death.
