‘I have a lot of regrets,’ says mother charged in death of 2-year-old son
A mother accused of failing to get her son medical help after he suffered what would become a fatal head injury at the hands of her boyfriend insisted that her son was conscious and talking when she last saw him at home.
Jessica Langlais sobbed as she testified about her son, Adrian Langlais, who was hospitalized on March 18, 2015 — his second birthday — and died the next day.
She testified she felt like she let her son down.
“I don’t know what happened, but I know that Christian did something,” Langlais testified. “I know he did something because my child was not like that when I left for work that day.”
Prosecutors say Christian Tyrrell slammed Adrian’s head against the wall of his bedroom on March 17. They say although the boy instantly began showing symptoms, including vomiting, not being able to walk and losing consciousness, Langlais only did Internet searches about head injuries and gave her son Tylenol.
They say Langlais then went to work the next day, leaving Adrian alone with Tyrrell.
Tyrrell called 911 later that morning, reporting the boy had had a seizure.
The toddler, who paramedics have testified was covered in bruises, was found to have two skull fractures.
Tyrrell was convicted of capital murder in 2017 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Langlais testified Wednesday about her excitement about becoming a mother and how she worked hard to earn money to make sure Adrian had everything he could want — a home, a backyard, toys and clothes.
“He was the best kid ever,” Langlais testified. “He was happy and smart and playful and vibrant and rambunctious and he was perfect. He was perfect.”
Langlais testified that she had swatted Adrian on his diapered rear after he stored food in his cheeks — a repeated problem — while eating lunch on March 17, 2015.
She said Tyrrell came into the kitchen and took Adrian into his bedroom for timeout. From the kitchen, she testified, she heard Tyrrell yell at Adrian before emerging from the bedroom and saying that Adrian was fine and lying down.
Langlais testified that Tyrrell had later gone to check on Adrian when, in a panicked voice, he called her to the bedroom.
She said as she approached the bedroom door, she saw Tyrrell holding her son. She said Tyrrell told her that he had found Adrian face-up on the floor with his legs against the playpen.
Langlais said her son seemed dazed, had bruising on the side of his face and later vomited. Fearing he had hit his head or hurt his neck, Langlais said she closely monitored her son that night, not letting him even walk. She said she put him in a recliner so he wouldn’t choke if he vomited again and that Tyrrell took over watching Adrian overnight so she could get some sleep before work.
When asked by defense attorney Mark Daniel if Adrian was “lifeless” and “almost dead” on March 17 as prosecutors have contended, Langlais replied no and said the boy was awake and responsive.
She also disputed prosecutor’s contentions that Adrian was limp and unresponsive in a photograph she had posted on Facebook on the evening of March 17, showing the boy laying face-down across the lap of Tyrrell as Tyrrell rubbed the back of the boy’s neck. On the post, Langlais had written that Tyrrell was being a “good dad.”
Langlais testified that Tyrrell had put Adrian on his lap to check his neck to make sure he was OK.
“It wasn’t anything sinister like they’re trying to say it was,” Langlais said. “I posted it on Facebook because I thought it was sweet.”
Langlais testified that when she awoke on March 18, Adrian was watching television. She said she fed him a piece of banana, which he spit up, then fed him a cracker and Sprite to try to settle his stomach for another Tylenol dose. She said her son answered her when she spoke to him and seemed to be doing better.
She said when she saw bruises on her son’s ear and other parts of his body in the months and weeks leading up to Adrian’s death, she worried the boy was hurting himself on the bars of his crib.
“I wish I would have saw signs. I wish I could have known so I could have removed him from the situation,” Langlais said. “I think about it every day. I can’t do anything about it now.”
Under cross examination, prosecutor Kevin Boneberg showed Langlais photo after photo of the bruises that had appeared on her son in the months prior to his death.
“You know you could have saved Adrian’s life, right?” Boneberg asked her.
“I have a lot of regrets,” Langlais answered, sobbing.
When Boneberg repeated his question, Langlais replied, “When I look at it, yes, I know I could have.”
Boneberg accused Langlais several times of blaming her problems, and the events leading up to that day, on other people.
“You’re the mother of Adrian Langlais,” he said, pointing at her. “So at what point do we hold you accountable?”
“I would never intentionally hurt my son,” she said.
“You’d let him be hurt, though,” Boneberg said
The jury will return to court at 8:30 a.m. Thursday when prosecutors will continue to question Langlais.
Reporter Nichole Manna contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 6, 2019 at 6:35 PM with the headline "‘I have a lot of regrets,’ says mother charged in death of 2-year-old son."
