A mother of five in Missouri is accused of attempting to kill several of her children, including a newborn, by smothering them with pillows in a motel room.
Lydia M. Ginger was arrested on Sunday and charged with four counts of first-degree domestic assault, three counts of endangering a child’s welfare, and one count of child abuse or neglect, according to court documents. According to a probable cause affidavit, police responded to the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Jefferson City’s 400 block of West McCarty Street around 11 p.m. on Sunday after a child under the age of 12 called 911 to report being attacked by his mother.
The child, identified in court documents as “Victim 1,” told the emergency dispatcher that “their mother had strangulated them and threatened to kill other siblings” inside their hotel room. At some point during the attack, the child was able to lock themselves in the bathroom and call 911, identifying the attacker as Ginger and claiming she “smothered the victim’s face with a pillow in an attempt to suffocate.”
The dispatcher reported hearing yelling in the background during the call.
When first responders arrived on the scene, they said they found Ginger in the hotel hallway, just outside the room where she was staying with her five children, all of whom were under the age of 12.
“Ginger appeared highly intoxicated and reported to officers that Victim 1 did what they had to do, referring to dialing 911 for help,” according to the arrest report.
The child who called 911 told investigators that Ginger smothered them as well as “placing a pillow over the face of Victim 2 with a pillowcase.” Police reported that victim 2 was “less than 3 months old.”
“Victim 1 reported Ginger telling all of the children that if ‘one dies,’ they ‘all die,'” police wrote in the document.
A child under the age of eight identified only as “Victim 3” allegedly told authorities that Ginger also attempted to smother them with a pillow.
Ginger was detained and taken to the police station for an interview after being read her Miranda rights.
“Ginger admitted there was a disturbance between she and the children, but stated she ‘blacked out’ and couldn’t remember,” according to the declaration. “Ginger admitted that she’snapped,’ adding that she’s not denying that suffocation with pillows occurred — but she couldn’t recall citing her being ‘blacked out’ due to postpartum depression.” Ginger stated that if her children said it happened, it ‘probably’ happened.
Police searched the hotel room and found several empty bottles of alcohol, as well as four pillows, two of which had their pillowcases removed, which investigators said was “consistent with Victim 1’s story of events.”
Ginger, also known as Lydia Gillispie, is currently being held in Cole County Jail without bond after being deemed a danger to the community. She was ordered not to contact any of the victims.
There were no court dates on the docket as of Monday afternoon.
