Local mom found guilty of giving child fatal overdose

BOSTON -- The Weymouth mother accused of giving her 4-year-old daughter a deadly overdose of prescription drugs has been found guilty of second-degree murder.

Carolyn Riley is accused of over-medicating her daughter, Rebecca. The mother allegedly gave her daughter the medicine to sedate her and qualify for federal disability benefits.

Riley showed no emotion at the verdict, while her mother wept in the front row.

Rebecca’s high-school age sister had her stepfather read a victim’s impact statement that read in part, “It is so hard ‘going through life normally’ knowing she did what she did to Rebecca...Knowing what she did to my sister has made everything and everyday a challenge.”

The DA credited jurors with sifting through the complicated medical evidence to come up with their verdict.

“I think there’s been some small...measure of justice for her, but there’s a lot of things that we do in our jobs and our careers trying to make sure we can help the kids that don’t have a voice for themselves,” said Timothy Cruz, Plymouth County DA.

Rebecca’s father Michael Riley is being tried separately.

The second-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence with the possibly of parole after 15 years.

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