The three sons of Kouri Richins told a Utah court they would fear for their safety if their mother were ever released from prison following her conviction for murdering her husband, Eric Richins.
Richins, 35, was found guilty in March on five felony charges, including aggravated murder, after prosecutors said she fatally poisoned her husband with a fentanyl-laced cocktail in March 2022 at their home near Park City, Utah, News.Az reports, citing CBS.
Ahead of her sentencing hearing, prosecutors submitted emotional statements from the couple’s three sons, who were 9, 7, and 5 years old when their father died. The children described ongoing fear and trauma connected to their mother and urged the court to keep her imprisoned.
The oldest son, now 13, said he does not miss his mother and fears she could harm him or his brothers if released.
“I’m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers,” the boy said in a statement presented to the court.
The middle child, now 11, also told the judge he would not feel safe if his mother were freed. He recalled unusual details from the night his father died, including being sent to bed unusually early and being unable to enter his parents’ locked bedroom.
The youngest son said he feels ashamed when people discuss his mother because “she took away my dad,” adding that he would feel safer if she remained in prison permanently.
Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life without parole. Richins’ aggravated murder conviction alone carries a possible sentence ranging from 25 years to life in prison or life without parole.
Authorities said Richins attempted to financially benefit from her husband’s death through life insurance policies and inheritance plans. Prosecutors also accused her of trying to poison him weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day using a fentanyl-laced sandwich.
Before her arrest in 2023, Richins drew national attention after self-publishing a children’s book titled Are You With Me?, which focused on a child coping with the loss of a father.
She also faces more than two dozen additional financial crime charges in a separate pending case.
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