Overview
- Irene Aiyana Whitehead, 27, was arraigned Dec. 1 on felony murder and first-degree child abuse in the Sept. 3 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Ryleigh, and she is being held without bond.
- Court documents say Whitehead told detectives on Nov. 25 that she held a bag over her daughter's mouth and that she "wanted to kill" her.
- Search-warrant returns show queries about how hard it is to prove suffocation by a bag in a toddler, according to investigators.
- The medical examiner ruled the cause of death undetermined but said suffocation or smothering could not be excluded.
- Authorities have reopened the 2021 death of Whitehead’s infant son, Leonard, and are working with the Kent County prosecutor, with a probable cause hearing set for Dec. 10.