Parents Charged In Death Of Daughter, 4

HINGHAM, Mass. -- A South Shore couple accused of killing their 4-year-old daughter was arraigned on murder charges in Hingham District Court on Tuesday.

NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that police said Caroline Riley, 32, and her husband Michael, 34, intentionally poisoned Rebecca, 4, with a prescription drug not approved for children.

In court on Tuesday, the prosecution described the grim details of Rebecca's December death.

"This little girl was given repeated overdoses of clonidine used to knock her out. This little girl's lungs were ravaged with damage. The damage was caused by the clonidine, which reduced the heart rate of this child to such a dangerous level that her little body couldn't pump blood to her necessary organs," prosecutor Frank Middleton said.

Authorities said they found amounts of several prescription drugs in the girl's body, including clonidine, valproic acid, dextromethorphan, Seroquel and chlorpheniramine. Clonidine is prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and valproic acid and Seroquel are for bipolar disorder. Rebecca's death was ruled a homicide resulting from too much clonidine.

"This little girl's lungs filled with liquid and she gasped and choked and vomited what she could out of her airways until she could not do it anymore, until her body could not fight it anymore," Middleton said.

"They loved their kids so much. They worked so hard to try to keep things together for their kids," Rebecca's grandmother, Valerie Berio, said.

Berio said Rebecca received daily medication for bipolar disorder and ADHD.

"Michael Riley repeatedly told Carolyn to medicate the children when he determined that they were 'acting up,'" a police affidavit said.

"The charge is ridiculous. They had worked so hard to keep their family together for two years, and they never had a single break," Berio said.

The clonidine caused Rebecca to have trouble breathing and sleeping, investigators said.

"This child would have been gagging; this child would have been gurgling; this child would have had shortness of breath, vomiting when she could," Middleton said.

Middleton said Rebecca's symptoms were ignored by her parents. On the night of her death, Dec. 13, Carolyn Riley's half-brother heard the gurgling, kicked in the door and told them to take the child to the emergency room, Middleton said.

"The night before she died, Rebecca was coughing uncontrollably and appeared to have a cold, so what they did at 1 o'clock in the morning is give her more cold medicine and, of course, because she was making noise and Michael Riley indicated to investigators that it was getting really annoying, that she was keeping everybody awake, he suggested to his wife that they give her more clonidine," Middleton said.

Two older children in the household are also on the medications, investigators said.

"My client is presumed to be innocent. I will accept the fact that he will be held without bail," said defense attorney John Darrell.

According to the criminal complaint, the Rileys had a 30-day supply of the medicine, but Carolyn Riley would say she lost it or water got into the medicine and she needed more pills.

The Boston Globe reported that Michael Riley was not legally allowed in his wife's home the morning of the child's death. The state Department of Social Services had been investigating allegations that he had sexually abused his wife's 13-year-old daughter, who has since been adopted. The couple's two other children remain in foster care.

Child Care Before Her Death Eyed

The death of Rebecca Riley has raised serious questions about the medical and social service systems in Massachusetts, leaving some to ask if warning signs were missed, NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported. "I would not fault the doctor for labeling the child as bipolar at age 4. Now at age 2, I don't understand that," said Dr. Sam Kelley of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Court documents indicated that Rebecca Riley was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in August 2004, when she was 2 ½-years-old. The diagnosis was based, in part, on a family history of mental illness -- her father, Michael Riley, is bipolar and her two siblings were also similarly diagnosed, court documents said.

Because the illness doesn't typically manifest itself until the late teens, Kelley said the diagnosis may have been made for insurance purposes.

"If there is a strong genetic loading, some doctors may say, 'Yeah, that looks like bipolar disorder.' And to get paid, doctors often times have to write down a diagnosis," Kelley said.

Whatever the reason, Kelley said Rebecca had to have been a very sick child to be prescribed the combination of Clonidine, Valproic acid or Depakote and Seroquel. Tylenol Plus was also found in her system at autopsy.

"Depending on the dosages, it could be a lethal, and in this case, was a lethal combination for this child," Kelley said.

"When you look at this case, and you look at the child that is gone, and you look at the people that have been involved in this child's life, I think there's a lot to be accounted for," said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

Cruz made it clear that the investigation would include Rebecca's psychiatrist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Tufts-New England Medical Center. The hospital released a statement on Tuesday that read, in part, "The care we provided was appropriate and within responsible professional standards. Dr. Kifuji has outstanding credentials and is respected within her field."

NewsCenter 5 made many calls to the Department of Social Services, which removed the Riley's two other children from the home after Rebecca was found dead.

The Boston Globe reported that DSS ordered Michael Riley to leave the home amid allegations he sexually abused his wife's 13-year-old daughter, who was adopted by another family in 2002.

DSS did not return NewsCenter 5's calls.