A mom who wrote about children's book about grief after her husband died will now be standing trial for his murder.
Prosecutors have been given the green light to take Kouri Richins to trial as a potential murder suspect after a judge recently ruled that there was enough evidence connecting her to the crime.
On August 27, Utah judge Richard Mrazik stated there was enough evidence presented by prosecutors to move forward in charging the 34-year-old mom of three for the alleged murder of her late husband, 39-year-old Eric Richins.
"We are not determining in any degree guilt at all," Mrazik said, per KPCW.
"Ms. Richins was presumed innocent of all charges yesterday, she is presumed innocent of all charges today and she will remain presumed innocent of all charges through trial," he added.
Richins has been accused of lacing his drink with a fatal dose of fentanyl back in 2022, to which she has pleaded not guilty.
Richins is accused of using fentanyl purchased from the family’s housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, to poison Eric in March of that year.
AP reported that the mom allegedly called 911 in the middle of the night claiming she found her husband "cold to the touch" at the foot of their bed.
She is also accused of adding fentanyl to his sandwich on Valentine’s Day in 2022.
In court earlier this week, detective Jeff O’Driscoll said Lauber told police that Kouri asked her for stronger fentanyl when the Valentine’s Day attempt didn’t work.
“She learned that putting it in a sandwich, where Eric Richins could take a bite, feel the effects, set the sandwich down, was not the proper way to administer a fatal dose of fentanyl,” Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told Judge Mrazik, per AP. "She learned that it takes a truckload to kill him."
Richins later released a self-published children’s book about grief, titled 'Are You with Me?' before she was arrested.
In statements given to Dateline back in May, Richins continued to maintain her innocence in relation to the crime.
"I've been silent for a year, locked away from my kids, my family, my life, living with the media telling the world who they think I am, what they think I’ve done or how they think I’ve lived," she told the outlet. "And it's time to start speaking up."
"You took an innocent mom away from her babies. This means war," the mother-of-three continued.
Her defense attorneys, Kathy Nester and Wendy Lewis, also shared a statement on Tuesday after the update on the case.
"Our focus now is on ensuring that justice is served through a fair trial,” they said, per KPCW. “These past 15 months have taken a heavy toll on Kouri and her three children. It’s time to bring this ordeal to an end, restore her life and allow her and her family to move on."
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