Rylan Rochester, age 6 months
A 6-month-old Superior boy who was allegedly killed by his mother, a mental-health counselor, died of suffocation, Boulder County Coroner Thomas Faure said Wednesday.
Faure said Rylan Rochester, who was pronounced dead at Avista Adventist Hospital on June 1, was the victim of a homicide.
Rylan's mother, Stephanie Rochester, a mental-health counselor at Children's Hospital at the time, is charged with first- degree murder and child abuse. Rochester told police that she thought Rylan had autism and that she felt responsible.
She said she felt she and her husband couldn't have fun while caring for a severely autistic child, according to the affidavit. Rochester also said she didn't want Rylan to suffer and put a plastic shopping bag and a blanket over the baby's face to kill him, according to police.
Her husband, Lloyd Rochester IV, has not been charged.
