March 18, 2024, 11:32:52 PM *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: NEW CHILD BOARD CREATED IN THE POLITICAL SECTION FOR THE 2016 ELECTION
 
   Home   Help Login Register  
Pages: 1   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Mass. mother Carolyn Riley goes on trial in 4 yo daughter's OD death  (Read 5173 times)
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
MuffyBee
Former Moderator
Monkey Mega Star
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 44737



« on: January 19, 2010, 08:16:38 PM »

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/19/AR2010011901259.html

Mass. mother goes on trial in daughter's OD death

By DENISE LAVOIE
The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 19, 2010; 6:04 PM

BROCKTON, Mass. -- In an "evil scheme," a Massachusetts mother fabricated symptoms of mental illness to get her 4-year-old daughter powerful drugs, then overmedicated the girl and allowed her to die when she became ill with pneumonia, a prosecutor said Tuesday at the woman's murder trial.

Assistant District Attorney Frank Middleton said Carolyn Riley took her daughter, Rebecca, to a psychiatrist when she was 28 months old in hopes of getting her diagnosed with mental illness and put on drugs so she and her husband could collect Social Security disability payments for the girl.

Middleton said Carolyn Riley consistently overmedicated the girl, giving her more than the amount prescribed by a psychiatrist. Then, when the girl became ill with pneumonia in the final days of her life, Carolyn Riley ignored the urgent pleas of three people who lived with them and refused to take her daughter to a doctor. Instead, Middleton said, she gave her daughter almost twice the amount of drugs prescribed by the psychiatrist.
This defendant began an evil scheme that ended in murder," Middleton said.

Riley and her husband, Michael, are both accused of murder in their daughter's December 2006 death in Hull. Michael Riley will go on trial after his wife.

Middleton showed jurors a note written by Carolyn Riley in which she detailed how much money the family was collecting through Social Security disability benefits - $2,668 per month - and how much additional money she hoped to collect - $633 per month - if she could convince Social Security doctors that Rebecca also had a mental disability.

But Carolyn Riley's attorney, Victoria Bonilla, said Carolyn took Rebecca to a psychiatrist when she was 2 because she was concerned about the girl, who was very active and had difficulty sleeping.

She said Carolyn Riley followed the instructions of the psychiatrist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, who diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when the girl was 2 and bipolar disorder shortly after she turned 3. It was Dr. Kifuji, Bonilla said, who prescribed Clonidine for the ADHD and Depakote for bipolar disorder.

"This is not nefarious," Bonilla said, but consistent with common medical practice to treat ADHD with Clonidine.

Bonilla also disputed allegations made by prosecutors that Carolyn Riley ignored pleas to help her daughter after she became ill with pneumonia. She said Carolyn Riley bought her daughter some children's cold medicine and gave it to her.

"Carolyn Riley did everything she could to treat her child. Carolyn Riley thought her daughter had a cold," she said.

Bonilla said a defense medical expert, as well as a prosecution expert, came to the conclusion that Rebecca died of pneumonia, not a drug overdose.

"She did not die at the hands of her mother," Bonilla said.

Middleton, however, said that in the last year of her life, Rebecca Riley was given well over the amount of Clonidine prescribed by Kifuji.

Middleton used a gruesome photo of Rebecca in his opening statement to the jury.

The photo, taken by police after her mother found her dead on the floor of their bedroom, shows the little girl wearing only a pink pull-up diaper, lying on a pile of magazines and clothing and a stuffed bear. She had a pink liquid oozing from her nose and mouth.

Carolyn Riley showed little emotion after her daughter was found dead, Middleton said. Later that day, he said, when Carolyn and Michael Riley went to get their daughter's things at her school, the principal saw them "joking and laughing" outside the school.

But Bonilla said Carolyn Riley was a "loving and caring parent," and was seen distraught by emergency responders after she found her daughter dead on the floor near her bed.

"She was cradling the child. She was hysterical," Bonilla said.

One of the first witnesses to testify for prosecutors was Ellen McCarthy, the nurse at the Weymouth preschool Rebecca attended during the year before her death.

McCarthy said that in the months before her death, Rebecca was so lethargic and weak she was like a "floppy doll."

"When she was in the gym, she would sit down on the floor with me and she would just flop down," McCarthy said.

McCarthy said she was concerned about the amount of medication Rebecca was taking. She also said no one at Rebecca's preschool saw the aggressive or violent behavior Carolyn Riley described when explaining why Rebecca was on the powerful drug.s

The school principal, Victoria Silverstein, said that she once had to help Rebecca get off the school van after the driver called in and said the girl was shaking. Silverstein said that when she went to help her, Rebecca collapsed, "so I picked her up in my arms and carried her into the school."
Logged

  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
MuffyBee
Former Moderator
Monkey Mega Star
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 44737



« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2010, 08:18:49 PM »

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/01/prosecutor_moth.html

Prosecutor: Mother of child in overdose death driven by money
January 19, 2010 01:36 PM


BROCKTON -- A Plymouth County prosecutor today depicted a Hull mother of three, who faces first-degree murder charges in the death of her youngest child, as a cold-hearted parent who exaggerated behavioral problems in her daughter to boost the family's $2,668 monthly federal disability benefits -- due largely for mental health reasons -- by an extra $633 a month.
<snip>
Logged

  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
MuffyBee
Former Moderator
Monkey Mega Star
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 44737



« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2010, 08:20:40 PM »

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1685418440/RILEY-TRIAL-Evil-schemer-or-caring-mother


RILEY MURDER TRIAL: Caring mom or evil schemer?

 The Patriot Ledger
Posted Jan 19, 2010 @ 01:04 PM
Last update Jan 19, 2010 @ 05:14 PM
BROCKTON —

Was Rebecca Riley’s death the final consequence of her parents “evil scheme” to get more money from the government? Or was it the tragic outcome of a fast-acting pneumonia that overwhelmed the 4-year-old’s body?

Jurors in Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton heard both stories during opening arguments in the murder trial of the little girl’s mother, Carolyn Riley.
<snip>
Logged

  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
MuffyBee
Former Moderator
Monkey Mega Star
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 44737



« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2010, 08:23:32 PM »

http://www.wickedlocal.com/weymouth/news/x1409373573/Rileys-to-be-tried-separately-for-girl-s-death

Rileys to be tried separately for girl’s death

By Ed Baker
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 13, 2010 @ 01:06 PM

Weymouth —

A Weymouth couple accused of murdering their four-year-old daughter with overdoses of prescription medicine will be tried separately in Plymouth County Superior Court.

Judge Charles Hely granted a request by Assistant District Attorney Frank Middleton to have Michael and Carolyn Riley tried separately in connection with the death of Rebecca Riley.

The Jan. 13 decision was made after Hely, Middleton, and defense attorneys tried to decide how much evidence and statements by the Rileys should be allowed in a trial.

Court rules don’t permit statements of co-defendants like the Rileys to be used agaisnt each other during a trial, but their statements can be used if they are tried separately.

Jury selection for Carolyn Riley’s trial was scheduled to begin on Jan. 13.

Hely turned down a motion to allow Michael Riley to be released from prison on personal recognizance when he completes a two and a half year sentence for giving pornography to a minor in an unrelated case.

A Norfolk County jury convicted Riley of providing obscene matter to a child under 14 on Nov. 21, 2007.

Jurors acquitted him of assault with attempt to rape a child and four charges of indecent assault and battery.

Carolyn Riley has been permitted to remain free on bail since November, 2008.

Hely’s ruling to allow separate trials for the Rileys occurred after he denied a motion by the couple’s attorneys to dismiss first-degree-murder charges against them on Jan. 11.

Prosecutors allege that Rebecca died from a deliberate overdose of Clonidine, Depakote, Seroquel, and several other over-the-counter drugs that were given to her by Michael and Carolyn when the family lived in Hull in December, 2006.

The Rileys claim that they administered the medicines to Rebecca under the orders of Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, a former Tufts Medical Center psychiatrist.

Kifuji diagnosed Rebecca with bipolar disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders when the girl was a few months older than two.

 Defense lawyers maintained that a new medical report by Dr. Sara Vargas, a prosecution expert, supported the couple’s claim that Rebecca died of acute pneumonia and not from an overdose of prescription medicine.

The lawyers said the grand jury that indicted the Rileys did not have this report and received inaccurate information about Rebecca’s death from prosecutors.

Vargas said in her summary that Rebecca had acute pneumonia and sepis, or a widespread infection, which were “adequately severe to explain Rebecca’s death.”

The disease can only be treated if it is detected early, and a doctor must surgically remove a portion of the lung that is infected with the virus.

Vargas did not declare a cause of Rebecca’s death, but did state that the medications “may have caused the bacterial pneumonia and sepsis or contributed to their severity” by predisposing the girl to infection.

Prosecutors allege the Rileys ignored pleas to take Rebecca to a doctor and they instead gave her an overdose of medication.

A state medical examiner found that Rebecca died of a combination of Clonidine, a blood pressure medication the girl had been prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Depakote, an antiseizure and mood-stabilizing drug prescribed for bipolar disorder; and two over-the-counter drugs, a cough suppressant and an antihistamine.

The amount of Clonidine alone in Rebecca’s system was enough to be fatal, the medical examiner said.

Material from GateHouse News Service used in this story.
Loading commenting interface...
Logged

  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
Nut44x4
Maine - USA
Global Moderator
Monkey Mega Star
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 18800


RIP Grumpy Cat :( I will miss you.


« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2010, 12:58:45 PM »

 Rebecca Riley died of pneumonia, toxic level of drugs
 January 28, 2010 11:34 AM

BROCKTON – A Children’s Hospital pathologist testified today that 4-year-old Rebecca Riley died of an aggressive pneumonia while also suffering from a toxic level of sedating medication.

When asked by prosecutor Frank J. Middleton Jr. what the child died of, the doctor said she thought both factors played a role.

“I believe she died of acute bacterial pneumonia in a setting of toxic levels of drugs,” said Dr. Sara Vargas in the eighth day of testimony in the first-degree murder trial of Rebecca’s mother, Carolyn Riley.

The pathologist was a prosecution witness in this trial. However, her testimony at least partially boosts the defense case that the preschooler from Hull died in 2006 of fast-acting pneumonia.

Vargas’s testimony also differed from a state autopsy report that did not mention pneumonia, but said Rebecca died of a deadly mixture of psychiatric medications, specifically clonidine, as well as chemicals found in cold medicines.

Vargas did say that she thought the level of clonidine found in Rebecca’s dead body – 12 nanograms per milliliter – was in the toxic range and alone could have been fatal. However, she also said that the pneumonia was a type that is “overwhelming” and can also lead to death.

The girl died Dec. 13, 2006, after her lifeless body was found next to her parents’ bed.

Prosecutors contend that her parents fabricated behavioral symptoms in the girl to obtain psychiatric medications to sedate her and to help the family qualify for federal disability benefits. At the time of her death, the girl and her two older siblings had been diagnosed with bipolar and hyperactivity disorder and were taking several psychotropic drugs.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/01/pathologist_reb.html
Logged

Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware/Of giving your heart to a dog to tear  -- Rudyard Kipling

One who doesn't trust is never deceived...

'I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind' -Edgar Allen Poe
Pages: 1   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Use of this web site in any manner signifies unconditional acceptance, without exception, of our terms of use.
Powered by SMF 1.1.13 | SMF © 2006-2011, Simple Machines LLC
 
Page created in 6.127 seconds with 20 queries.