A 22-year-old Missouri woman has pleaded guilty to child cruelty offences after she told police she had recorded herself smothering her young son as it gave her an “adrenaline rush”.
Emma Rigdon, 22, has admitted multiple child cruelty offences
A mother has admitted to abusing her infant son after authorities said she recorded herself smothering him and later told a friend it made her feel happy and gave her an “adrenaline rush.”
Emma Rigdon, 22, pleaded guilty to two counts of abuse or neglect of a child. She was sentenced to five years in prison for each count, to run concurrently.
But a judge suspended the sentence and credited her for more than 600 days already spent in jail, records show.
As part of the plea deal, the Missouri woman is barred from contacting the victim and must take an anger management class. She will remain on probation for three years.
READ MORE: Georgia mother beat her son to death with slipper for not being potty-trainedREAD MORE: Chilling text mother sent to family after ‘stabbing daughter, 11, to death’
According to court documents, the heinous crimes occurred on April 15, 2024, at a home in the 1200 block of Warren Street in St. Louis, records have revealed.
A probable cause statement said Rigdon pinched and slapped the boy’s leg, causing him to cry.
The crime happened in April last year
She then recorded herself placing her hand over the child’s nose and mouth, causing him to have “difficulty in breathing and to flail his arms and legs,”.
Rigdon sent the video to a friend and said in a text message, “IDK when I do that I feel happy like adrenaline rush.”
Authorities said Rigdon later made a second video in which she placed a blanket over the child’s face, making him cry and “vigorously grab at the blanket.” She also sent that video to a friend, police said.
In another message, Rigdon wrote: “I be stopping right before he dies. Last time he was blue.”
While a separate message said: “I really wanna kill him but I don’t want to go to jail so. It’s unfortunate. He’s just gonna have to pay for his existence.”
The child survived. Court papers do not say who is caring for him, and police did not list a reason for why Rigdon was trying to harm the boy.