A Missouri mother of five is accused of attempting to murder several of her children, including a newborn baby, by allegedly smothering them with pillows in a motel room.
On Sunday, Lydia M. Ginger was apprehended and charged with four counts of first-degree domestic assault, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of abuse or neglect of a child, according to court documents. Police responded to the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Centre in the 400 block of West McCarty Street in Jefferson City at approximately 11 p.m. on Sunday after a juvenile under the age of 12 called 911 and reported being attacked by his mother. This information is based on a probable cause affidavit.
The emergency dispatcher was informed by the child, who was designated as “Victim 1” in court documents, that “their mother had strangled them and threatened to kill other siblings” in their hotel room. The child was able to lock themselves in the bathroom and summon the police at some point during the attack. They identified the attacker as Ginger and claimed that she had “smothered the victim’s face with a pillow in an attempt to suffocate.”
During the conversation, the dispatcher reported hearing yelling in the background.
Upon their arrival at the scene, the first responders reported that they had located Ginger in the entryway of the hotel, just outside the room where she was staying with her five children, all of whom were under the age of 12.
Investigators were informed by the child who called 911 that Ginger not only smothered them, but also “placed a pillow over the face of Victim 2 with a pillowcase.” The police observed that victim 2 was “less than three months old.”
Authorities were allegedly informed by a child under the age of 8 who designated themselves as “Victim 3” that Ginger also attempted to smother them with a pillow.
The Miranda rights were read to Ginger, and she was subsequently detained and taken to the police department for an interview.
“Ginger admitted there was a disturbance between she and the children, but stated she ‘blacked out’ and couldn’t remember,” per the affidavit. “Ginger admitted that she ‘snapped,’ adding that she’s not denying that suffocation with pillows happened — but she couldn’t remember citing her being ‘blacked out’ due to postpartum depression. Ginger stated that if her children stated it happened, then it ‘probably’ happened.”
The hotel room was searched by the police, who discovered four pillows, two of which had their pillowcases removed, and numerous empty bottles of alcohol. Investigators determined that this was “consistent with Victim 1’s account of the events.”
Ginger, who is also known as Lydia Gillispie, is presently being detained without bond in the Cole County Jail after being determined to be a threat to the community. She was directed to refrain from engaging with any of the victims.
As of Monday afternoon, the docket did not contain any court dates.
