Emma Rigdon, inset, is accused of suffocating her infant son until he was blue and was flailing his arms and legs, according to St. Louis police. (Mug shot: St. Louis Justice Center; Screenshot: Google Maps)
Missouri Police arrested a mother after she allegedly filmed herself smothering her infant son with her hand and a blanket, telling her friend that doing so made her feel happy and gave her an “adrenaline rush.”
Emma Rigdon, 20, is facing two counts of abuse or neglect of a child, a class D felony, according to a probable cause statement from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The incident allegedly occurred April 15 at a home in the 1200 block of Warren Street.
Rigdon allegedly pinched and slapped the leg of the boy, which made him cry, cops said. Rigdon recorded herself putting her hand over the boy’s nose and mouth, causing him to have “difficulty in breathing and to flail his arms and legs,” the affidavit said. She then allegedly sent the video to a friend saying in a text message “IDK when I do that I feel happy like adrenaline rush.”
She is then accused of making a second video in which she placed a blanket over his facing which made the boy cry and “vigorously grab at the blanket.” Rigdon sent that video to a friend as well, cops allege.
In a text message to her friend she allegedly said “I be stopping right before he dies. Last time he was blue.” Another message reportedly 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 boy survived his injuries although the court papers do not say who is now taking care of him. Cops also did not list a reason as to why she was allegedly attempting to hurt the boy. They obtained the video and text messages as evidence.
Cops took Rigdon to the St. Louis City Justice Center where she’s being held without bond. Her next court date is scheduled for Wednesday. Her court file did not list the name of her attorney.