Couple pleads not guilty in disabled teenager's IV alcohol death

Editor’s note: This article is by The Caledonian-Record, in which it was first published Oct. 8, 2014.

A Hardwick woman and her boyfriend pleaded not guilty Wednesday to second degree murder charges for allegedly causing the death of the woman’s teenage son by injecting alcohol into the boy intravenously.

Melissa Robitille and Walter Richter III, both 38, were arrested Tuesday.

The boy, Isaac Robitille, 13, died on Aug. 22. Hardwick Police officers responded to the boy’s home and were told by Robitille that she found her son dead that morning. Isaac had been born with significant medical conditions, police reported, including handicaps that required feeding tubes and IVs to keep alive.

An autopsy was requested to determine the cause of the boy’s death. A toxicology report was received by law enforcement on Sept. 5. Results showed Isaac Robitille had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.146 percent. The medical examiner determined the alcohol contributed to the boy’s death.

Further investigation by police determined the alcohol was administered through an IV by the boy’s mother and Richter.