Mom who claimed her twins died after vaccination indicted on murder by suffocation charges
An Idaho mom was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the 2025 deaths of her 18-month-old twins, which police said was a result of suffocation by her -- but that she claimed, without evidence, were caused by vaccines.
Andrea Shaw, 23, was arrested on June 30 following a nearly year-long investigation into the deaths of her children, a boy and a girl.
She was indicted by a grand jury on charges of suffocating the children "in an act that was either premeditated or taken in the course of aggravated battery.” Prosecutors allege Shaw suffocated the children around May 1, 2025.
Shaw has not made a plea as of Thursday, according to her attorney, Joseph Filicetti.
Filicetti told ABC News he believed the case against his client was "weak" and said that he would be making a request for bail during her next court appearance on July 14.
"Mrs. Shaw absolutely denies doing anything even imaginably bad," Filicetti said.
Shaw has repeatedly claimed, without sharing evidence, that vaccines led to her children's deaths and talked about those claims on a podcast hosted by the controversial anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense.
Routine childhood vaccines have been extensively studied in hundreds of large studies, are considered safe, and continue to be strongly recommended by major medical groups.
Shaw is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Children's Health Defense against the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has maintained that childhood vaccines are safe and effective.
Children's Health Defense, which was founded and previously led by current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., heavily promotes false health and vaccine data and has been condemned by medical groups.
RFK Jr. stepped away from the group in 2024 after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.
Children's Health Defense posted a video on its site after Shaw's indictment in which its chief executive, Mary Holland, said she would support Shaw.
"There’s zero evidence so far that this woman killed her children, zero," she said in the video.
In a statement, the Parette Police Department said they would not be making any more information available until the trial in order to respect the integrity of the judicial process, "Because this case is now pending before the court, the Payette Police Department will have no further comment regarding the facts of the case or the evidence. Future information will be presented through the judicial process.”
Filicetti told ABC News that his client had given birth to another child five days before her arrest.
He maintained her innocence and claimed, "We will have proof in trial."
Shaw faces a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
