Erika Murray Infant Deaths Case Goes To Court: Massachusetts Mother Pleads Not Guilty

Erika Murray, the mother charged with three infant deaths, appeared in court on Monday. The Massachusetts mother was arrested back in September after bodies of three infants were found in the home Murray shared with her boyfriend. She was held on $1 million bail, and police began to investigate the deaths of the three children.

According to Boston.com, Murray was arrested on charges of fetal death concealment out of wedlock when the bodies were found. Erika plead not guilty to the charges.

At the time, four other children lived in the house that was found in a horrible state. It was reported that the home was “filled with pests, feces, animal skeletons, and used diapers.” Maggots were found in the ears of one of the children living in the home.

Earlier this month, police decided to charge Erika Murray with murder for two of children found in the home. It was determined that the infants were indeed born alive. For the third infant, Murray was charged with fetal death concealment out of wedlock.

In court on Monday, Assistant District Attorney John Bradley shared details about the state of the home and the deceased infants.

“Bradley told the court that Murray’s four living children were discovered in their bedrooms covered in feces. One child had maggots in her ears. The dead babies were found wrapped in sweatpants and blankets in a closet and a box. Two of the dead infants were allegedly found clothed. The prosecution claims that Murray killed the babies because her boyfriend did not want any more children.”

However, Murray’s attorney is trying to paint a different picture of the Massachusetts mother. The Inquisitr previously reported that Keith Halpern was “disappointed” that his client was charged with the murders of her children. Murray also faces seven other charges in this case.

Halpern spoke out in defense of his client following her appearance in court on Monday, according to CBS Atlanta.

“[The children] weren’t the only captives in this house. She was too…. She was mentally ill to the point where she was incapable of doing anything. The house looked the way it looked because she was sick. If she was determined to murder these children, why did they find three corpses and not five?… It does not make sense to portray her as a serial child killer.”

During the court appearance, Halpern argued for Murray’s release from jail until trial. She has been held in isolation at a women’s prison. He tried to argue that ” prosecutors had not made a case” for keeping her in jail. However, the prosecutor on the case argued in return that the state of the home and what happened to the three deceased infants was enough reason to keep Murray in jail pending trial.

Crews in hazmat suits initially tried to clean out Murray’s home, but the structure was demolished in October when those efforts failed.

As for Raymond Rivera, Murray’s boyfriend and father of her children, he claimed that he had no idea about the state of the house. He also did not know about the infant deaths. He lived in the basement of the home, and he is facing seven charges of his own. Rivera was charged with two counts of assault and battery causing substantial bodily injury and two counts of reckless endangerment of a child. He is being held on $100,000 bail, and he will next appear in court on Jan. 14.

As for Erika Murray, she has another court date scheduled for February 4.