Murder charge levelled at children's book author
<p>Author Kouri Richins wrote a children’s book on grief following the death of her husband in 2022. She is now being charged with his murder.</p>
<p>Richins was arrested on May 7 in Utah and is accused of charging documents of poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City.</p>
<p>Prosecutors allege Richins called authorities in the middle of the night in March 2022 to report that her husband, Eric Richins, was “cold to the touch”.</p>
<p>The mum-of-three told authorities she had made her husband a mixed vodka drink to celebrate him selling a home and then went to soothe one of their children in their bedroom. She later returned and found her husband unresponsive, which prompted her to call 911.</p>
<p>A medical examiner later found five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system.</p>
<p>Additionally, Richins is facing charges involving the alleged possession of GHB - a narcolepsy drug typically used in recreational settings, including at dance clubs.</p>
<p>The charges, which are based on officers’ interactions with Richins that evening and the account of an “unnamed acquaintance” who claimed to have sold her the fentanyl, come two months after Richins appeared on local television to promote Are You With Me, a picture book she wrote to help children cope with the death of a loved one.</p>
<p>For a segment called Good Things Utah, Richins referred to her husband’s death as unexpected and explained how it sent her and her three boys spiralling. In terms of children, she said, grieving was about “making sure that their spirit is always alive in your home”.</p>
<p>“It’s ... explaining to my kid just because he’s not present here with us physically, doesn’t mean his presence isn’t here with us,” she told the reporters, who commended her for being an amazing mother.</p>
<p>Richins’ lawyer, Sky Lazaro, declined to comment on the charges.</p>
<p><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>
