Inset: Emma Rigdon (St. Louis Justice Center). Background: The 1200 block of Warren Street in St. Louis, Missouri, where Rigdon smothered her son (Google Maps).

Emma Rigdon, aged 22, entered a guilty plea for two counts of child abuse or neglect this past Friday. She received a five-year prison sentence for each count, to be served concurrently. However, a judge chose to suspend the prison time, granting her credit for the over 600 days she has already spent in jail. According to court records, part of Rigdon’s plea deal conditions includes no contact with the victim and mandatory attendance in an anger management class.

Following her suspended sentence, Rigdon will remain under probation for an additional three years. The decision has sparked controversy, given the nature of the crime.

The incident, which took place on April 15, 2024, unfolded in a home located in the 1200 block of Warren Street, St. Louis, as previously covered by Law&Crime.

According to a probable cause statement, Rigdon not only pinched and slapped her son’s leg, prompting him to cry, but also recorded herself as she placed her hand over his nose and mouth. This act caused the infant to struggle for breath and flail his limbs. She later sent the troubling video to a friend, admitting via text, “IDK when I do that I feel happy like adrenaline rush.”

A probable cause statement said Rigdon pinched and slapped the boy’s leg, which made him cry, cops said. Rigdon recorded herself putting her hand over the boy’s nose and mouth, causing him to have “difficulty in breathing and to flail his arms and legs,” the affidavit stated. She then sent the video to a friend saying in a text message “IDK when I do that I feel happy like adrenaline rush.”

She then made a second video in which she placed a blanket over his facing which made the boy cry and “vigorously grab at the blanket.” Rigdon sent that video to a friend as well, cops wrote.

In a text message to her friend she said “I be stopping right before he dies. Last time he was blue.” Another message said: “I really wanna kill him but I don’t want to go to jail so. It’s unfortunate. He’s just gonna have to pay for his existence.”

The boy survived his injuries although the court papers do not say who is now taking care of him. Cops also did not list a reason why she was apparently trying to hurt the boy.