Michigan – A Michigan woman was taken into custody last week and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree chiId abuse in the death of her chiID, 2-year-old RyIeigh, Michigan authorities said. The 27-year-old defendant, lrene, was arraigned on the felony charges and remained held at the county correctional facility after her initial bond was revoked.

Sheriff’s deputies and Michigan Child Protective Services opened an investigation after first responders were called to the family’s home in Sept. when 2-year-old girI was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at the scene. The County Medical Examiner initially ruled the child’s death “indeterminate,” saying a cause of death could not be established but that asphyxia (smothering or suffocation) could not be ruled out.

Detectives conducted a monthslong probe that included reviewing social media and device records, copying instant messages and video, and obtaining search histories and interview transcripts. Investigators said they recovered an instant message exchange in which the parent told her own mother she “only wanted one child,” and a video excerpt from an online account that prosecutors say captured an older child crying and saying, “You never even wanted me. You only want me to die. I know you want me to die.” Those materials were included in the affidavit for probable cause.

During a custodial interview last week, after being advised of her Miranda rights, the mother was confronted with parts of the evidence and her online activity. Police say she admitted placing a ba g over the child’s mouth for a couple minutes, described the it as “blue, teal,” and at one point told investigators, “I kiIIed her.” In the recorded transcript filed in court, detectives repeatedly asked about her intent and said she nodded and eventually said aloud that she wanted the child to be gone. Investigators also pointed to a web search from the parent’s account that asked, “how hard is it to prove if cause of death is sufocation by a bag in toddIer.”

Prosecutors and detectives said the investigation raised questions about prior hospital visits and breathing episodes for the victim. According to the court documents summarized by news outlets, the mother acknowledged that her child had been taken to the hospital several times during the past year and admitted to investigators that some of those episodes were caused when she had previously placed a bag over the child’s mouth and then presented the breathing problem as a medical issue. She reportedly told detectives she believed the first hospitalization was for a real medical problem but said later hospital trips were staged.

News reports also noted that two years earlier the mother had publicly spoken about her newborn’s serious illness after the infant was diagnosed with a rare variant of a common virus; local health coverage from 2023 described the family’s efforts to care for the baby at that time. Investigators have not linked that earlier public advocacy to any criminal findings, and the medical examiner’s indeterminate ruling for the mother’s means forensic conclusions remain limited pending the criminal case.

The mother told Michigan authorities she sufocated the 2-year-old with a b ag and admitted she had done this more than once. When detectives asked what she was trying to achieve, she explained that her intention was for the child not to be alive anymore. She said the stress of caring for children had become overwhelming, that she felt she could not handle it, and that she wanted everything to stop. When asked directly if she had wanted to end the child’s life, she confirmed that she had, and said she made that decision shortly after the child was born.

The mother also admitted to causing the death of her two-month-old son Lenard, whose passing had originally been considered natural. In a written statement last week, she acknowledged responsibility for both children’s deaths. Investigators said her admissions made clear that she no longer claimed the children had been suffering from the virus previously mentioned in medical reports.