A 41-year old mother appeared before a Camden County judge after she allegedly smothered her toddler son because she saw him as a threat to her affair.
According to the New York Post, Heather Reynolds suffocated her toddler by holding a cleansing wipe over his nose and mouth, because she allegedly felt the 17-month-old Axel was getting in the way of her extramarital affair.
ABC6 reported that officials said that on the morning of May 10, 2018 “Reynolds ran from her home, holding her unresponsive child in her arms, and screamed for help from her neighbours” before emergency crews soon found the boy on the lawn of his family's home.
Reynolds initially allegedly told responders that her son smelled like rubbing alcohol, and she posited he may have accidentally drank something poisonous, according to PEOPLE.
A year later, the 41-year old woman was charged for murder, endangering the welfare of a child, possession of methamphetamine and hindering apprehension in connection with the death of her son, after a Camden County Medical Examiner ruled Axel’s death a homicide by asphyxia.
Assistant prosecutor Peter Gallagher told the court that “text messages recovered from her phone showed Reynolds and a man had been having an affair while her husband was working out of state”, NJ.com reported.
The messages allegedly further showed that the man began showing less interest in Reynolds, to which she responded that maybe the reason for this was her having a son.
Reynolds' attorney Michael Testa said she struggles with addiction but is innocent of the murder and child endangerment, Daily News reported.
The judge ruled that Reynolds is to remain behind bars until the verdict is reached, if found guilty she will be facing a life sentence.
