The Autism News | English
Stephanie Rochester looks to her public defender Megan Ring as she was charged today in the death of her infant at the Boulder County Justice Center in Boulder Colorado. The 34-year-old Superior mother was arrested last week on suspicion of killing her 6-month-old son. Photo by Paul Aiken / Pool Daily Camera / (PAUL AIKEN)
By Vanessa Miller | Boulder Daily Camera
The 34-year-old Superior mental-health counselor charged with murder in the death of her 6-month-old son told a detective at the hospital that she feared her son had autism and attempted to asphyxiate the boy with a plastic bag before “put(ting) blankets over the baby’s head,” according to an arrest-warrant affidavit released this afternoon.
“She believed that the baby was showing signs of autism,” according to the 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 was formally charged this afternoon with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
According to the affidavit, Rochester told a detective that she worked for two years as a counselor at Children’s Hospital and that she worked specifically with children with autism. She felt that her son, Rylan Rochester, had severe autism, and “this was very upsetting to Stephanie,” according to the affidavit.
Despite her concerns, no doctors had diagnosed Rylan with any developmental disabilities and said he was progressing normally, according to the affidavit.
Rochester said she was suffering from post-partum depression and told nurses and her family that she was depressed and experiencing suicidal thoughts, according to the affidavit.
She and her husband, Lloyd Rochester, took Rylan to Children’s Hospital Urgent Care the night before he died because the boy didn’t want to eat and was being increasingly fussy, according to the affidavit.
A triage nurse checked Rylan’s vital signs, which were normal, and the family left without being seen because of a long wait. When they got home, Rochester told police that she thought, “I’ve got to do something,” according to the affidavit. So she placed a plastic bag over Rylan’s head and then put a blanket on top of his face, according to investigators.
“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,” investigators wrote. “She did not want Rylan to hurt.”
After a minute, she removed the bag, and Rylan was still breathing, according to the affidavit. She went downstairs and ate dinner with her husband.
“She and Lloyd talked about how they wanted to have fun in life,” investigators wrote. “Stephanie said that she knew they would not have fun while they were caring for a severely autistic child.”
After dinner, Rochester told police that she went back upstairs and put three baby blankets on top of Rylan’s face, according to the affidavit. An hour later, she “got nervous” and checked on Rylan, who was still breathing but unresponsive, according to police.
They went to bed, the detectives wrote, and Rochester told police “she could hear Rylan whimpering.” She then 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,” the investigators wrote.
In the morning, 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, according to authorities.
She appeared in Boulder County District Court in a blue suicide smock with her defense attorney Megan Ring. She is due back in court for a status conference on June 24 and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on Sept. 8.
Rochester, who was being held on suicide watch and away from other inmates at the jail this morning, previously was given a $750,000 bond until a judge ruled at her first appearance that she’s not entitled to bond out of jail because of the charges against her.
At this afternoon’s hearing, Rochester’s mother and sister and other friends were in the courtroom, but her husband was not present.
Rochester and her husband, Lloyd Rochester, told police Tuesday that they found their infant son, Rylan Rochester, unresponsive in his crib and brought him to the hospital, where attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
The Boulder County Coroner’s Office hasn’t ruled on a cause or manner of the infant’s death, pending further laboratory tests and investigation, but the sheriff’s office is investigating the case as a homicide.
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Grandmother backed over autism death
The Autism News | English
By Kaylene Hong | The Standard
Officials have been slated for arresting the grandmother of an autistic three- year-old boy who fell to his death.
Louis Program Training Center executive director Wong Siu-lee said it was unfair to pin all the blame on the grandmother.
Wong said the lack of support for autistic children and their families also had a hand in the tragedy.
“The government is not doing a good job by just pointing the finger at her and not considering the hardships involved. It does not even provide any education to equip carers to look after a special-needs child,” Wong, who has a 25-year-old autistic son, said.
The 56-year-old woman, surnamed Cheung, was arrested on Sunday after her autistic grandson fell to his death from an 18th-floor flat in Aberdeen. Police are investigating possible neglect.
Parenting Forum president Chan Man-yee said taking care of special- needs children is a tough task.
“A lot of parents of autistic children bear a lot of emotional stress and need basic counseling. It is a great need to which the government should direct resources,” Chan said.
A grandmother who has raised her nine-year-old grandson since he was three said she is often accused of not teaching him proper manners, when in truth his behavior stems from autism.
“It is like a battle bringing up my grandson,” Sendy Chan Shau-ngor said.
Wong has urged the government to launch more education campaigns about autism.
“An autistic child very often leads to the closing in of the family to society. They do not dare bring their child out in case people cast horrified glances at their child’s behavior. The government needs to increase social education about autism,” Wong said.
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