The Autism News | English


Stephanie Rochester, the Superior woman accused of fatally smothering her 6-month-old son Rylan, will not face a jury on first-degree murder and child abuse charges in connection with the June 2010 death.

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett announced Monday that he does not feel prosecutors would be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Rochester was sane at the time of the killing.

Instead, Garnett and Rochester’s attorneys will request a hearing in front of a Boulder judge to present evidence of Rochester’s insanity to determine whether she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the state mental hospital.

That hearing, which has not yet been scheduled, will be an abbreviated trial on the murder and abuse charges before a judge, as opposed to a full trial by jury.

“Given the court’s ruling and the state of the evidence at this time, I have determined that there is not sufficient admissible evidence for the prosecution to meet its burden of convincing a jury of 12 to reach a unanimous decision, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Stephanie Rochester was legally sane when she allegedly killed her infant son,” Garnett said in a prepared statement. “Based on that, I have determined that it is inappropriate to proceed to a jury trial in this case.”

Lloyd Rochester, Stephanie Rochester’s ex-husband and Rylan’s father, did not respond to a request for comment made through his attorney Monday.

Two psychiatrists — one working for the defense team and one working for the state mental hospital in Pueblo — both evaluated Rochester and found her to be insane.

Last December, Rochester pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder and child abuse charges, and a judge recently denied a request to have a third psychiatrist, this time working for the prosecution, examine her.

Child would ‘ruin’ her life

During the initial investigation last summer, Rochester told detectives that she believed her baby, Rylan, was autistic, and that having an autistic child would emotionally and financially “ruin” her life.

According to a police report, she told detectives that she placed a plastic bag over Rylan’s head. When the infant was still breathing some time later, she told police she placed blankets over his face.

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