A lawyer for a Minnesota woman accused of pausing at a Walmart for Pedialyte while her toddler was critically ill is seeking to have her police interviews dismissed.

Valerie Zamora, aged 33, was taken into custody in May following a probe into the tragic demise of her 20-month-old son, Jose. Authorities suspect her involvement in the incident. As previously detailed by Law&Crime, Zamora, her partner, and her daughter were en route to a hospital with Jose on May 15. However, they detoured to a Walmart in Dilworth—about 230 miles northwest of Minneapolis, near the North Dakota border—to purchase Pedialyte.

During Zamora’s brief stop inside the store, Jose, cradled by her daughter, began to vomit blood. The daughter later expressed to police her fear that her little brother was on the brink of death.

Zamora’s partner, alarmed by the situation, sprinted into the store to fetch her. The family then raced to the hospital where, tragically, Jose was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m. An autopsy revealed that he succumbed to blunt force injuries, classifying his death as a homicide. The examination uncovered broken ribs and bruises, which Zamora reportedly told authorities were a result of the boy’s tendency to bruise easily.

During a session in Clay County District Court on Monday, Zamora’s attorney, Michael Minard, argued before Judge Jade Rosenfeldt that his client was interviewed by police on three occasions following Jose’s death—twice at the hospital and once at the police station. According to coverage by The Forum, Zamora willingly conversed with police during all encounters, requesting legal representation during the third. Moorhead Police Detective Katie Schultz confirmed under oath that the questioning ceased once Zamora asked for an attorney.

Because Zamora was not taken into custody, she was not read her Miranda rights at the start of those three interviews. Schultz told the court that those three interviews were conducted in order to gather information about Jose’s “suspicious death.” At the time, Schultz said, Zamora was not under arrest and was told she could stop the interview at any time.

Minard told the court that the content of those three recorded interviews should be excluded from trial since Zamora was not read her rights.

Among the statements Zamora allegedly made during her voluntary interviews with police was how she hesitated to bring Jose to the hospital the day before his death because she feared that social services would “take her child away.” Police wrote in court documents that Zamora’s story about the days leading up to Jose’s death changed, including the nature of his illness. According to police, Zamora first stated that Jose was vomiting, but it was “normal.” She later stated that he vomited a black or dark substance.

Law&Crime previously reported that the day of Jose’s death, witnesses told police that they had urged Zamora to take Jose to the hospital. She allegedly gave him Tylenol and Gatorade and ran errands instead. Later that evening, between 4:30 and 5 p.m., Jose’s condition worsened. Zamora told one of her children that she would take him to the hospital when her partner arrived home.

Police said the family finally took Jose to the hospital late that night, but not before surveillance cameras at Walmart caught Zamora entering the store at 10:12 p.m., minutes before her son began vomiting blood.

Zamora remains in custody at Clay County Jail after she was extradited from Cass County following her arrest. She is charged with second-degree murder.