This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
After nearly three years of treatment at the Utah State Hospital, a Cache County woman whose 2-year-old son was found dead in their River Heights home in 2013 is now competent to stand trial in the child's death.
Heidi Marie Rutchey, 45, is charged in Logan's 1st District Court with first-degree felony murder in the August 2014 death of her son, Eli.
She had been incompetent to stand trial on the charge since January 2014. But on Monday, Judge Thomas Willmore ruled her competency had been restored, based on a report from the Utah State Hospital, according to court records.
Rutchey's next court date is Nov. 28, when she will decide whether she wants a preliminary hearing in the case.
An investigation by the medical examiner revealed that Rutchey's son died from suffocation or "some kind of airway interruption," according to a probable cause statement filed with the court.
Forensic tests determined that Eli had already been dead a week or more when law enforcement found his body on Sept. 4, 2013. Court documents say the boy died as early as Aug. 27, 2013.
Cache County sheriff's deputies discovered the boy was dead shortly after the mother went to Logan Regional Hospital seeking emergency medical treatment for herself on Sept. 4, 2013, for "a number of medical issues," according to the sheriff's office.
When hospital staff learned that she had a child, they were concerned for his well-being and sent law enforcement officers to check on him.
While at the hospital, the mother was distraught, court documents state. She called herself a "baby killer" and told hospital personnel that "something terrible has happened" and "he suffocated in the tub."
Rutchey remained hospitalized for several weeks before being booked into the Cache County Jail.
After she was taken into custody, Rutchey told officers she had suffocated her son by placing her hand over his mouth and nose, the probable cause statement states. She then tried to kill herself by overdosing on medication.