Prosecutor to seek death penalty for an Idaho mom who blamed vaccines for twins’ deaths

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against a woman charged with murder in the 2025 deaths of her twin toddlers.

Andrea Shaw, 23, has pleaded not guilty and has said the 18-month-old twins became sick and died after receiving flu shots and routine childhood vaccinations. But Payette County Prosecutor Mike Duke wrote in court documents that an autopsy revealed symptoms consistent with smothering and wrote that suffocation “is the only conceivable explanation” for their deaths.

Deputy prosecuting attorney Ryon Sirucek notified the court of his intent to seek the death penalty last week.

In the court document, Sirucek said the state would try to show that four aggravating factors make capital punishment appropriate in the case: that more than one murder was committed at the time; that the killings were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel; that the defendant showed “utter disregard” for human life; and that she would likely pose a continuing threat to society.

“That's outrageous,” said Shaw's attorney, Joseph Filicetti. “They're not going to be able to prove the underlying case beyond a reasonable doubt, so there's not a chance the death penalty is going to come into play.”

Filicetti said the defense team will be filing a motion to dismiss the case. He said the grand jury that indicted Shaw wasn't told that the county coroner found the cause of death to be undetermined but consistent with hyperthermia, or overheating. The pathologists who examined the twins also said their causes of death were undetermined, Filicetti said.

The prosecutor's office wrote in court documents that the temperature in the twins' room would often reach 100 degrees, but that the children had survived high temperatures before and that their time of death didn't correlate to the peak temperature of the day.

“They don't have any motive, they don't have any backstory, they don't have any confession. ... She didn't do any of that, and they can't prove she did any of it,” Filicetti said.

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The twins were found dead in their shared bed May 1, 2025, according to court records. They had been vaccinated eight days earlier, and the day after their vaccinations Shaw took them to the emergency room, reporting that they were lethargic and felt feverish. The doctor felt the symptoms were a reaction from the vaccinations, and the twins were given Tylenol and a Popsicle and sent home, according to the court records.

A few days after the twins' deaths, Shaw went on an internet show produced by Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He has not been affiliated with the group since December 2024, when he formally resigned as chairman to join President Donald Trump’s administration.

Medical experts point out that the childhood vaccines at issue — hepatitis A, influenza and DTaP — are safe and effective for kids and recommended by various medical groups.

Shaw is also a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit brought by Children’s Health Defense and others against the American Academy of Pediatrics, accusing the organization of racketeering and lying about the safety of vaccinations. The American Academy of Pediatrics has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it the “latest missive in a campaign targeting” the academy and its “use of science-backed evidence in vaccine policy.”

A grand jury indicted Shaw on the murder charges in July, and she is being held without bond. A trial has been set for January.