Overview
- Prosecutors allege that on April 12 the 18-month-old, Luke Russell Jr., choked on unpopped popcorn while visiting his mother in Merrick and was found unresponsive with his 3-year-old sister present.
- Nassau County prosecutors say Olivia Bithorn was intoxicated, left the children unattended, gave them unpopped popcorn, and that the child was dead for more than an hour before 911 was called.
- Bithorn pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and child endangerment and a judge ordered pretrial conditions that include bail and monitoring; news reports differ on the bail amount with figures of $500,000 and $250,000 cited.
- Defense lawyers say Bithorn is enrolled in a drug and alcohol treatment program and had been released earlier on an ankle monitor, while prosecutors argued she should be held because she was losing health coverage and might not return to court.
- Prosecutors used prior incidents of alleged substance-related danger to the children to frame negligence as criminal conduct, and the case raises broader questions about how courts weigh treatment, supervision and public safety in pretrial decisions.