BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against Andrea Shaw, 23, who is charged with murder in the 2025 deaths of her twin toddlers, the Associated Press reported. Shaw has pleaded not guilty. The twins, who were 18 months old, were found dead in their shared bed on May 1, 2025, according to court records cited by AP.
Source: Associated Press via The Reflector, Oct. 22, 2026
Deputy prosecuting attorney Ryon Sirucek notified the court of his intent to seek the death penalty, AP reported. In the court document, Sirucek said the state would try to show four aggravating factors: 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. Heavy, citing local television reporting, said Sirucek filed the notice on Friday, October 16.
Source: Heavy (citing KTVB, KMVT and KBOI reporting), Oct. 22, 2026
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, according to AP. The prosecutor's office also wrote 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 did not correlate to the peak temperature of the day, AP reported. These are prosecution allegations, not findings of a court.
Source: Associated Press via The Reflector, Oct. 22, 2026
Shaw has said the twins became sick and died after receiving flu shots and routine childhood vaccinations eight days before their deaths. According to court records cited by AP, the day after their vaccinations Shaw took them to an 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. In July, a grand jury indicted Shaw on two counts of first-degree murder, according to court records and a statement from the Payette Police Department cited by AP.
Source: Associated Press via The Reflector, Oct. 22, 2026
Shaw's attorney, Joseph Filicetti, called the death-penalty filing “outrageous,” AP reported. “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,” he said. Filicetti said the defense team will be filing a motion to dismiss the case. He said the county coroner found the cause of death to be undetermined but consistent with hyperthermia, or overheating, that the pathologists who examined the twins also said their causes of death were undetermined, and that the coroner was not on the witness list for the grand jury; it is not clear whether jurors were informed of his findings, AP reported.
Source: Associated Press via The Reflector, Oct. 22, 2026
Heavy reported, citing KMVT, that Shaw's jury trial is scheduled to begin on January 11, 2027, and is expected to last three to four weeks. No allegation in the case has been proven in court, and Shaw is presumed innocent unless and until she is convicted.