Mother Killed 17-Month-Old Because He Was Obstacle To Extramarital Affair, Prosecutors Say

A New Jersey woman suffocated her toddler son to death because he posed an obstacle to her extramarital affair, prosecutors claimed in the court during her detention hearing, Wednesday.

Heather Reynolds, 41, from Gloucester Township, was arrested earlier this month and was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree possession of methamphetamine, and third-degree hindering apprehension – a year after her neighbors witnessed her running out of her home holding her unresponsive 17-month-old son, Axel, in her arms and screaming for help on May 10, 2018, CBS Philly reported.

Emergency crews responded to the scene and found the toddler unconscious on the lawn of the accused’s house. After failing to revive the child through CPR, he was pronounced dead. Reynolds told investigators she had found her son unresponsive in his crib after she went to check on him while getting ready for work.

She added that she went door to door in her neighborhood pleading for help because her cell phone had died and hence, she was unable to call 911. No one else was in the house at the time of the incident.

Authorities believed the death of the child was suspicious even before an autopsy was performed on the body. After the coroner’s post-mortem report, the cause of death was determined to be asphyxia and Axel’s death was ruled a homicide.

The prosecutors further stated that Reynolds had held a cleansing wipe over her son’s nose and mouth till he suffocated and died. “This was an absolutely brutal murder and a helpless victim,” Assistant Prosecutor Peter Gallagher said.

He told the court about the record of texts retrieved from the accused’s phone, exchanged between her and another man.

“A review of the text messages between the defendant and her boyfriend from the previous night reveal [sic] that the defendant was becoming frustrated by the boyfriend’s apparent lack of interest,” Gallagher said, NJ reported. “And witnesses also told detectives that the defendant had expressed the sentiment that her toddler son… was an obstacle to her relationship with her boyfriend.”

Some witnesses also told authorities that the accused used methamphetamine the night before the incident – an account which was corroborated by the residue of the drug found in her purse.

The defense attorney Michael Testa Sr., however, argued that the suspect’s actions had nothing to do with her child’s death. “She adamantly denies that she has anything to do with the death of her child,” Testa said.

The presiding judge ruled that Reynolds will remain in police custody until her trial. She faced a sentence of life in prison if convicted.