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 today.
Faure said that Rylan Rochester, who was pronounced dead at Centura Health Avista Adventist Hospital on June 1, was the victim of a homicide.
His mother, Stephanie Rochester, a mental-health counselor at Children’s Hospital at the time of the incident, is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse.
Rochester told police she thought Rylan had autism and that she felt responsible, according to a court affidavit.
She said she felt she and her husband couldn’t have fun while they were caring for a severely autistic child, according to the affidavit.
Stephanie 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.
Rochester and her husband brought their unresponsive son to the Avista Hospital in Louisville.
The husband, Lloyd Rochester IV, has not been charged.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
