What did Heather Reynolds do? New Jersey woman sentenced to life in prison over son’s 2019 death

On November 15, 2022, more than three months after her conviction, Heather Reynolds was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing her infant son. The 45-year-old New Jersey woman was found guilty of the May 2018 murder of her 17-month-old son.

Judge Gwendolyn Blue also found Heather Reynolds guilty of child endangerment and drug counts. In a press release, Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay said:

"Judge Blue also sentenced Reynolds to a concurrent eight-year prison term for Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and a concurrent four-year prison term for Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (methamphetamine). Before the sentencing of Reynolds, Judge Blue listened to members of the victim’s family discuss how the defendant’s crime had affected their lives before imposing sentence."

CCPO Homicide Section Chief Peter Gallagher, the state representative, expressed their gratitude to the judge for the ruling. He said:

"We are grateful to the jury for the time and attention that they gave to this case."

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Defense Attorney vows an appeal and calls Heather Reynolds a "devoted mother"

Heather Reynolds was sentenced to life imprisonment following the murder of her infant son in 2018. According to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, the ruling was made after the judge listened to members of the victim’s family discuss how the defendant’s crime had affected their lives.

Reynolds' attorney, however, argued that she was a "devoted mother" whose concern for her 17-month-old son made her try to revive her unresponsive child. The attorney, who has vowed an appeal, said that Heather Reynolds ran out holding him and screaming for help from neighbors when she failed to revive her son.

According to prosecutors, Gloucester Township Police officers responded to a report of an unresponsive child in Marcia Court, Sicklerville, in Gloucester Township. The infant reportedly had bruises around his mouth and nose, and when asked, Heather Reynolds told EMTs that her son may have ingested something poisonous. However, she allegedly changed her explanation when the EMTs told Reynolds that her son had been dead for much longer.

Prosecutors further alleged that Reynolds had suffocated her son, Axel, with a cleansing wipe in hopes of maintaining an extra-martial affair without the interference of her child.

According to a press release, a post-mortem examination confirmed that the cause of the child’s death was asphyxia and the manner of death was homicide. Reynolds' purse was found to contain traces of methamphetamine after witnesses said she used the substance the night before the murder.