Police: Stephanie Rochester feared son had autism, admitted she put blankets, plastic bag over baby's head - Boulder Daily Camera
Anxiety that having an autistic child would financially and emotionally "ruin" her life drove a Superior mental-health counselor to asphyxiate her 6-month-old son with a plastic bag before putting blankets over his head "so that he would die," according to court documents released Monday.
"She believed that the baby was showing signs of autism," according to an affidavit seeking a warrant for Stephanie Rochester's arrest. "She wanted to kill herself, but did not want to burden her husband with the baby inflicted with autism."
Rochester, 34, was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. The Boulder County District Attorney's Office charged her with two counts of first-degree murder under two different theories -- murder after deliberation, and knowingly causing the death of a child younger than 12 by a person in a position of trust, said Deputy District Attorney Adrian Van Nice.
The two murder charges are punishable by life in prison or death. The child abuse charge is punishable by up to 24 years in prison.
Rochester told authorities that she worked for two years as a counselor with autistic kids at Children's Hospital and "can recognize the signs of autism." She said she was convinced her son, Rylan, had severe autism.
"This was very upsetting to Stephanie," according to the affidavit, written by Boulder County sheriff's Detective Mark Spurgeon.
Pediatricians said Rylan was progressing normally, which frustrated Rochester because she "felt her concerns were dismissed."
Rochester told detectives that she was suffering from postpartum depression and told nurses and her family that she was having suicidal thoughts. A midwife prescribed her Zoloft, an antidepressant, but her husband, Lloyd Rochester, told investigators that when his wife told his mother that she needed help and was feeling suicidal, the response was "minimal."
On May 31, the night
Lloyd, Stephanie and baby Rylan Rochester ( COURTESY)
before Rylan died, Rochester and her husband took the infant to Children's Hospital Urgent Care because the boy didn't want to eat and was being increasingly fussy. A triage nurse checked Rylan's vital signs, which were normal, and the family left without being seen because of a long wait. While they were waiting, Lloyd Rochester made a comment to his wife that "he didn't know it was going to be like this, meaning having a child," according to the affidavit. When they got home, Rochester thought to herself, "I've got to do something," the document said.
She placed a plastic Target bag over Rylan's head as he slept and then put a blanket on top of his face, the affidavit said.
"She said that she had conducted research on the computer and read that carbon monoxide poisoning deaths don't hurt and you just go to sleep," Spurgeon wrote. "She did not want Rylan to hurt."
After a minute, she removed the bag, and Rylan was still breathing. She went downstairs, according to the affidavit, and ate dinner with her husband -- drinking wine and discussing selling their house.
"She and Lloyd talked about how they wanted to have fun in life," Spurgeon wrote. "Stephanie said that she knew they would not have fun while they were caring for a severely autistic child."
At about 8 p.m., Rochester told police, she went back upstairs and put three baby blankets on top of Rylan's face. She then went downstairs to help her husband prepare for a trip they had been planning to Cape Cod. An hour later, Rochester "got nervous" and checked on Rylan, who was still breathing but unresponsive. Her husband came into the room and thought Rylan was "sleeping with his eyes open," according to the affidavit.
They went to bed, and Rochester told police "she could hear Rylan whimpering."
At about 2:30 a.m., she got up and put adult blankets on Rylan's head "so that he would die," according to the affidavit.
"Stephanie stated she intended to kill herself as well, however she did not have a plan on how to do that," according to Spurgeon.
At about 6 a.m., Rochester took the blankets off Rylan's head and "just lost it when she realized what she had done," according to the affidavit. She and Lloyd raced Rylan to Avista Hospital in Louisville, where he was pronounced dead.
When investigators told Lloyd Rochester at the hospital that his wife had admitted to killing their son, he "appeared to be surprised but not shocked" and then broke down and cried, police said. He said he didn't know his wife had killed Rylan but, in hindsight, thought some of her comments were "odd."
For example, she came to bed in the middle of the night and asked him, "Do you mind if we let him cry himself to sleep?"
"(Lloyd Rochester) described Stephanie as very protective of Rylan and has never let him cry himself to sleep," Spurgeon wrote.
Lloyd Rochester told detectives that his wife had been concerned even during her pregnancy that the "baby was becoming autistic." While he was away on a business trip from May 24 to 28, he said, his wife became increasingly concerned that Rylan was showing signs of autism.
The day before Rylan died, Lloyd Rochester told police, the family spent the day at the pool, where Rylan was "acting normal, jumping and carrying his own weight."
The next morning, when his wife awoke him and said, "Honey, come here," he knew something was wrong, he told detectives. When he realized Rylan was not breathing, he grabbed the infant from the crib, jumped in the car and honked for his wife to hurry up.
"He drove as fast as he could to the hospital," according to Spurgeon. "The only conversation he had with Stephanie during the drive was she told him to slow down and stated 'Oh my God.'"
Stephanie Rochester, who is being held on suicide watch and away from other inmates at the jail, appeared Monday in Boulder County District Court in a blue suicide smock with defense attorney Megan Ring. She's due back in court for a status conference June 24 and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Sept. 8.
Rochester's friends and family, including her mother, were in the courtroom, but her husband was not.
District Attorney Stan Garnett said his office will do a standard review before deciding whether to seek the death penalty in Rochester's case. But, he said, it's "extremely unlikely, from what I know of the case."
Denver defense attorney Scott Robinson said that, based on the affidavit, it's clear Rochester killed the baby, meaning she must mount some type of insanity or mental-state defense to avoid life in prison. But, he said, jurors will be less likely to exonerate her if they find that she was focused on the quality of her own life.
"The more preoccupied with herself and her quality of life, the less likely a jury will be to accept insanity as a defense," he said.
It's fairly obvious to me she was delusional before she even had the baby....I hope the DA realizes this...and doesn't do what Texas did and waste a lot of time and money prosecuting a woman who belonged in a psych ward.
What gets me HUTC is that men seem to feel they have little to no responsibility now days when there wives are acting delusional or suicidal and you throw babies into it. His wife thought the baby had autism before it was born...HELLO..that nuts...get her some flippin help...and DON'T LEAVE HER ALONE WITH THE BABY. She actually told him she wanted to kill herself...get her SOME HELP.
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Mother suffocates baby because she feared he was becoming Autistic 
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mushrooms. It makes it so much easier to kill them.
I'm Teri from central FL 
Originally Posted by cori n wes mom 
