Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Mom Locked Up For Letting Daughter Die From Asthma Attack

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Rachel Modrow was sentenced after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge in the death of her 9-year-old daughter, Amy Modrow. Amy had an asthma attack in Hopkins, Minnesota in February 2024. Her parents ran a steam bath and didn't have her inhaler refilled. Amy died days later after a relative called 911. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy details the sad case and what's ahead for Amy's father in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Jack Rice https://x.com/jackriceCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law & Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. A mother learns her punishment after her daughter dies from an asthma attack. I have the details of the shocking death of Amy Madro and why it could have been prevented. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. This is one of those cases that literally

leaves me shaking my head. Lots of kids, of course, have asthma and typically they have inhalers to help with that. They take a couple of puffs from it and it usually helps. No big deal, right? But what happened to Amy Madro in February of last year is absolutely unbelievable. Amy was nine years old and last year she started having an asthma attack while she was at a sleepover at a friend's house in Hopkins, Minnesota, outside of Minneapolis. The criminal complaint quotes a witness, J.S., the friend's mother. It says that evening J.S.'s daughter woke her up to inform her that victim was not feeling well. As the night progressed into the early morning hours of February 10th, 2024, JS's daughter woke her up again around 7 a.m., stating that victim was having an asthma attack.

JS reported that victim was having trouble breathing and described her breathing as heavy or fast. JS observed victim to be using an inhaler, but the prescription was for victim's grandmother. J.S. asked victim why she had her grandmother's inhaler. Victim stated she asked her grandma to have her inhaler since her parents did not own a vehicle. J.S. did not observe the inhaler victim using to be helping curb the asthma attack. So there's a big problem here.

Amy was using her grandmother's inhaler. It may not have been the right type of medication for a child. And Amy saying that her parents, her mom, Rachel, and her dad, Anthony Madro, didn't own a car. So I guess that means they couldn't get an inhaler for her. The complaint goes on to say, J.S. contacted victim's father, Anthony Wayne Madro, defendant one from herein, to inform him of victim's father, Anthony Wayne Madro, defendant one from herein, to inform him of victim's active asthma attack. Defendant Anthony Madro proceeded to sigh and handed the phone to

victim's mother, Rachel Lynn Madro, defendant two herein. J.S. informed defendant two that victim's breathing was getting worse. She was not faking it and that victim could not breathe. Defendant two told her to bring victim home since they had an inhaler. J.S. drove victim home and told the defendants that she could take victim to a doctor, but the defendants refused the offer. J.S. reported that victim was wheezing, breathing heavily, and asked to be taken to a doctor. Defendant one exited the residence and told victim to come inside. J.S. noted that Victim could barely walk at that point and Defendant 1 made no attempt to assist Victim. Amy could barely walk. Can you imagine? A nine-year-old little girl and J.S. said her dad made no attempts to help her.

And I have to warn you, what I'm going to tell you only gets worse. Officers contacted a family friend, Witness TH, who informed officers he received a call from Victim's aunt around 10 a.m. on February 10th, stating that Victim needed help. According to TH, when he arrived at the residence, he noticed Victim's skin was blue. She could not raise her arms and she was crying. Defendant two ran victim a steam bath and eventually, according to TH, he insisted that victim needed to go to the hospital. TH indicated that he carried victim to the parking lot where he called 911. Amy Madra was rushed to the hospital where doctors and nurses tried for days and days to treat her, hoping to save her life. Her mother posted photos of her on X, showing her in a hospital bed.

One post by Rachel Madro said, My daughter died twice and asked people to contribute to a GoFundMe page. Police continue to investigate, and the complaint says Amy's father told them that she started having issues with asthma the night before the sleepover, and her albuterol inhaler had been empty for a month, but they didn't refill it. A day before Amy died, Anthony Madro posted on Facebook, me and my little girl loved open houses. I might not ever see an ambulance, pediatric ICU, or ER the same way again. Love you, Amy. Amy died the next day on February 17th. Her mother, Rachel

Madro and father, Anthony Madro were both charged with second degree 17th. Her mother, Rachel Madro, and father, Anthony Madro, were both charged with second-degree manslaughter. Her mother, Rachel, pleaded guilty last October and was just sentenced to 41 months in prison. Anthony Madro's trial is scheduled to begin later this month. So let's bring in Jack Rice. He is a criminal defense attorney based in Minnesota. Jack, this case is unbelievable to me as a mother that your daughter would be having just a severe asthma attack and that you wouldn't seek help when you can see she's turning blue. Yeah, it's horrifying, isn't it? And I know that, you know, as a father of four daughters myself, it's one of those things you think about this. But, you know, this isn't the first time anything like this has happened before we have seen circumstances

where people have religious and philosophical beliefs that make them believe that they have a better notion on how to take care of their children or their they actually refuse to take a child to see a doctor or to seek medical care because they have a religious viewpoint on this. The courts have come down very hard on this issue. They're frequently quite supportive of religious issues until you start seeing a sick kid or a dead kid. And that's exactly what we saw here in Minnesota, actually Hennepin County. It's safe to say that the stories we cover prove the world can be very unpredictable and having a great lawyer really matters. That's safe to say that the stories we cover prove the world can be very unpredictable and having a great lawyer really matters. That's where Morgan & Morgan, a great partner of law and crime,

comes in. This is a firm with more than 1,000 lawyers because they win a lot. In the past few months, Morgan & Morgan secured a $29 million verdict for a bicyclist in Philadelphia, a $2.7 million verdict for a car accident victim in Florida, not to, a $2.7 million verdict for a car accident victim in Florida, not to mention a $5.6 million verdict for a car crash victim in Georgia after the insurance company offered their client nothing. Even if you think your case isn't worth millions, why not start a claim and fight for what you deserve?

Morgan & Morgan makes it so easy. You can start a claim from your phone in just eight clicks. So if you're ever hurt, you can easily start a claim at ForThePeople.com slash Crime Fix or click the link in the description and pinned in the comments. The thing is here, there's no mention of religious anything. I mean, it sounds like the parents didn't have a car. The inhaler the dad had told law enforcement had been out. The prescription for the little girl, Amy, had been out for a month. So they didn't refill it.

I don't know if they just didn't have the money. But this little girl was trying to use her grandma's inhaler because her asthma was that bad. I mean, I'm just like horrified by all of this and the fact that they wouldn't take up the offer of the friend or, you know, the friend's mother to take the girl to the doctor. No, you're right. And in fact, when I first heard about this story,

when I'm here, here in town, and I'm not very far away from it, I'm in Hennepin County all of the time and I've handled murder cases there quite a bit, is that my first thought was, was there a religious component? There was not. In this case, it appeared to be either a financial one or dare I say it, simply a negligence or gross negligence one. Because I can tell you here in Minnesota that if you're poor, the state will really step up with men care, especially for children, to make sure that if you don't have something like that, they will make sure that you do. And so that's really something that we see

very commonly. And yet what we have here is some very specific information where this young girl was at a friend's house. She started turning blue. She couldn't raise her arm. She was crying. She couldn't breathe. And she was wheezing desperately. And they actually took her to the hospital, meaning this family and the family. The hospital refused because this person wasn't a parent. And so the idea was, well, why don't you take him to hospital? They refused. Take him to a doctor.

They refused. She didn't have her own medications. And the thing that's important to remember in cases like these is there are certain obligations, not that we all have, morally we might, but certainly legally as a parent, you have very specific duties of care to your children. And if you fail in those duties, you can pay a very dear price. Sometimes it's something as

simple as child neglect. Or when you get into a level like this, it's going to be that second degree manslaughter charge that not just she faced, but also her husband faces. So Rachel Madro pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Is that a fair sentence, 41 months? I mean, that's, you know, little more than three years. Right. You know, the hard part about these is that you sit back and realize in three and a half years, her daughter is still dead needlessly. And that's

the problem that we face. But the problem that comes with that is, well, OK, so where do you go with these? Is there any question that these parents wanted her dead i don't think that's true is there any uh question that there was something else here was it was it some sort of ignorance was there something about this that thought it wasn't as bad as it was and and that's those are always the questions that you have i can tell you with a normal second degree murder charge is that if this were something that was an intentional act. And by the way, what she was found guilty of was a essentially second degree manslaughter, which is gross negligence. And frequently, almost always, this is an unintentional act.

The idea of this very tragic event. The question is, what do you do? And is 41 months enough? I'm scratching my head because as a parent, I can't see how you put yourself in this place. And yet at the same time, I have to ask myself if we're going to sort of societally spend the resources that we spend, do we spend it on somebody who is ignorant, foolish and makes very bad decisions? Or do we spend it on the people who intentionally go out there and do terrible things? That's not a very good answer, is it?

She was, I mean, mom was apparently trying to run a steam bath and thinking, I'm assuming she thought, oh, we'll run a steam bath and that'll open up her airway. I mean, I'm assuming that's what she thought. And then the other family member or friend arrives and insists on calling 911. And sadly, it was too late. Now dad's trial is scheduled to begin at the end of the month. Anthony Madra. But I have to tell you, right?

Haven't you done this, too? I can remember if your child has like whooping cough or something like that. And the idea is, OK, do you get a medicine? Yes, you do that. But what happens in the meantime? What do you do? Well, let's walk them outside or we let's you know the idea do you get them in a in a shower it's something that's nice and hot or do you get them outside where it's cold and and it's there's all these strange home remedies and ideas that your parents your grandparents your great-grandparents

have had and and we've seen this before this isn't the first time that you see this sort of unusual way of saying, well, we don't have what we need, but we're going to try this instead. I think the real problem, real problem is that she didn't have her own medication. It wasn't that it ran out and somehow they forgot to go to the hospital or that there was no hospital near. The hospital was made available to them. They said no. The doctor was made available to them. They said no. They talked about her having her own medication. She didn't even have that. I think that's what really notches this up to the point of saying this is different than just somebody who wasn't who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This was much worse. Yeah, it was certainly much worse.

You know, I can remember my son being diagnosed with croup and he's barking like a seal. But we actually took him to, you know, you're like, oh my God, what's going on? And it turns out to like, not that be that big of a deal. But, you know, it's that you think your child is like dying. And I, you know, we took him to the hospital and they said, oh, it's croup. They gave him a breathing treatment. They said, oh, but you can take him outside for like a couple of breaths of cold air and all this stuff. Totally different though. We, we actually took our son to the hospital and he was like,

they didn't get the medicine. So, um, but back to dad, Anthony Madro, Anthony Madro is scheduled to go on trial January 27th, later this month. Does he plead out or do they take this to trial both parents. She accepts the plea of 41 months. If he doesn't accept the plea, there is the potential they could call her as a witness. Now, not necessarily to say what it was that he did, but to explain her circumstances. So she doesn't even have to, if you dare you say it, flip on him, but to simply explain, I think what you may get here is a jury that is going to have very, very, very little sympathy. Because what they can do is they can bring in doctors to talk about, this was a long term issue that they ignored. It wasn't just this one day where this came out of the blue. This was something they knew about. This was something the potential could be there so it was it was foreseeable and then you decided to ignore it despite the very real danger

of what it means that is fundamentally different than frankly the potential of of your your son or your daughter or my daughter or my one of my kids getting croup when they're young too too, because that can happen potentially. This was a foreseeable act and a jury could really torpedo somebody like this, which would drive a judge to sentence this up. He could be looking at substantially more time than his wife actually received. Well, it is just it'll be interesting to see what Anthony Madro does, whether he does plead out or takes it to trial. It's just such a sad case, Jack, just so preventable, totally horrible. And I hope people actually take something away from this, that this is not how you handle this type of situation.

Call an ambulance. Jack Rice, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Thank you. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.