This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.
A district judge in Payette County, Idaho, Tuesday revoked the bond for 23-year-old Andrea Shaw, a mother charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her 18-month-old twins. Bail was initially set at $2 million. But Tuesday’s decision means that Shaw will not be eligible for release on any amount of bail.
A district judge in Payette County, Idaho, today revoked the bond for 23-year-old Andrea Shaw, the Idaho mother charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her 18-month-old twins.
Bail was initially set at $2 million. But Tuesday’s decision means that Shaw will not be eligible for release on any amount of bail.
Shaw was indicted by a grand jury and arrested on June 30 on allegations that she deliberately suffocated her twins, who died on May 1, 2025. Prosecutors allege the children were killed while sharing a bed in their home.
Shaw, who pleaded not guilty, has consistently denied the allegations. She alleges that her twins’ deaths were caused by the vaccines they received at a routine doctor’s appointment just over a week before they died. The toddlers both had documented adverse reactions to the shots.
In a motion filed Monday, defense attorney Joseph Filicetti argued that the $2 million bond is excessive and should be reduced to $100,000 with reasonable release conditions.
Prosecutors opposed any bond reduction, arguing that the evidence supports the murder charges and that Shaw should remain in custody.
Prosecutors said the court had been generous in granting the bond, which, in the state’s opinion, Shaw is not entitled to.
Bond is discretionary in capital cases, the prosecution said, and they suggested that she should not be allowed near her new infant.
Twins diagnosed with ‘post-immunization reaction’
The defense argued that Shaw has no criminal history — not even a parking ticket. She has remained in Idaho throughout the more than year-long investigation, has strong family ties to the Payette area, and recently gave birth by caesarean section to a premature daughter who needs her mother.
Filicetti said Shaw’s postpartum medical needs and her newborn’s dependence on her legally justify release under supervised conditions. He argued that bond is meant to ensure that a defendant will attend court; it’s not to punish them.
The defense also contended that the prosecution’s case is entirely circumstantial. He noted that there is no confession, eyewitness or admission connecting Shaw to the children’s deaths — and that the grand jury was not informed of those shortcomings in the state’s allegations.
Documentation supports Shaw’s statement that on April 24, 2025, the day after the twins received the vaccines, she took them to the emergency room when they were lethargic and their lips turned blue.
The treating physician in the ER diagnosed them with “post-immunization reaction.”
The children remained ill in the days leading up to their deaths eight days after receiving the shots, and Shaw repeatedly sought medical advice, according to court documents.
Supporting affidavits filed with the motion to reduce bail and shared with The Defender included one from Shaw’s mother-in-law who accompanied the family to the vaccination appointment and later to the ER.
She said she questioned the administration of the flu vaccine given a family history of adverse reactions and that the nurse assured the family the twins would be safe. She also described Shaw as a devoted mother who repeatedly sought medical care for the children.
The defense also submitted an affidavit from Angela Wulbrecht, a registered nurse with 26 years of obstetrics experience, who contacted the family after she learned of the infant deaths.
Wulbrecht said she offered to help obtain an independent forensic review and advised the family that if such a review uncovered evidence of abuse, she would report it to law enforcement.
Wulbrecht said the family immediately welcomed an independent examination — a response she said is inconsistent with what one would expect from someone who had intentionally harmed a child.
The defense argued these facts undermine the state’s theory of homicide and said independent experts are being assembled to challenge the prosecution’s conclusions.
Prosecutors filed a motion opposing the bond reduction. In their summary of the evidence, they said that investigators ruled out other possible causes of death — including heat exposure, carbon monoxide poisoning, poisoning and vaccines — during the investigation.
They did acknowledge that the infants had suffered side effects from the vaccine and that at least one of them was still suffering reactions at the time of death.
They argued that the only “conceivable explanation” was that the twins were suffocated and cited one expert who said that autopsy findings, including pulmonary vascular congestion and pulmonary edema in one of the twins, are consistent with suffocation.
The state also alleged Shaw made inconsistent statements during interviews with investigators about the children’s final hours and that the seriousness of the charges, combined with concerns about public safety, justifies maintaining the current bond or denying her bail altogether.
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This is extremely disturbing. Did they do an autopsy?
My family NEVER gets a flu shot because it would always make us sick.