Inset: Emma Rigdon (St. Louis Justice Center). Background: The 1200 block of Warren Street in St. Louis, Missouri, where Rigdon smothered her son (Google Maps).

Emma Rigdon, aged 22, entered a guilty plea on Friday to two charges of child abuse or neglect. Although she received a five-year prison sentence for each count, the sentences will run concurrently, according to court documents. The judge suspended her prison time, acknowledging the more than 600 days she has already spent in custody. As part of her plea agreement, Rigdon is prohibited from contacting the victim and is required to attend anger management classes.

Following the suspension of her sentence, Rigdon will be under probation for an additional three years.

The incident, as previously reported by Law&Crime, took place on April 15, 2024, at a residence in the 1200 block of Warren Street in St. Louis.

As Law&Crime previously reported, the crimes occurred April 15, 2024, at a home in the 1200 block of Warren Street in St. Louis.

A probable cause statement said Rigdon pinched and slapped the boy’s leg, which made him cry, cops said. Rigdon recorded herself putting her hand over the boy’s nose and mouth, causing him to have “difficulty in breathing and to flail his arms and legs,” the affidavit stated. She then sent the video to a friend saying in a text message “IDK when I do that I feel happy like adrenaline rush.”

She then made a second video in which she placed a blanket over his facing which made the boy cry and “vigorously grab at the blanket.” Rigdon sent that video to a friend as well, cops wrote.

In a text message to her friend she said “I be stopping right before he dies. Last time he was blue.” Another message said: “I really wanna kill him but I don’t want to go to jail so. It’s unfortunate. He’s just gonna have to pay for his existence.”

The boy survived his injuries although the court papers do not say who is now taking care of him. Cops also did not list a reason why she was apparently trying to hurt the boy.