SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Coast Guard mother acquitted of murdering her 5-month-old daughter remains in custody at the Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar, nearly a month after her manslaughter conviction was thrown out on appeal.
In 2022, a military jury found Kate Richard not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her baby, Scarlett Flores-Guerra. The jury did find her guilty of manslaughter and Richard was sentenced to six years in federal prison.
After two years in custody, on March 5, 2024, a Coast Guard appeals court reversed the manslaughter conviction, ruling the charging papers did not specify an act of negligence on the part of the mother.
“The specification alleges that Appellant murdered (Scarlett Flores-Guerra) ‘by asphyxia’ without further identifying an act or omission.,” the appellate military judges wrote.
Now, the woman’s defense attorney, Billy Little, is calling on the Coast Guard to release Richard, reinstate her rank, and give her back pay.
“She's in solitary confinement as a person whose only conviction has been overturned, rightfully so,” said Little.
CBS 8 obtained a 90-minute interrogation of the young mother – at the time she was age 23 – video recorded by the Coast Guard Investigative Service. The questioning took place two months after baby Scarlett was found deceased in her crib on April 18, 2020, inside a home Richard shared with her husband in Kodiak, Alaska.
“You're not gonna, like, end up in prison, or anything. You need help. You need help,” a female Coast Guard special agent told Richard during the interrogation.
“You're not going anywhere. You're not going to jail, okay? You're not. Nothing like that is gonna happen, okay?” a male special agent insisted during the questioning.
The two Coast Guard investigators repeatedly tell the young mother that they're there to help her. “Listen to me, this is not something we think you did on purpose,” the male interrogator assured her.
In fact, the CGIS was pursuing murder charges against the young mother.
During the interrogation, Richard explains baby Scarlett was fussy, so she swaddled her tightly and per her down in the crib with a pacifier in the baby’s mouth. “I didn't think much of it when I put her down. And then when I found her and I was like, did I swaddle her wrong? Did I, like, do it too tight?” Richard told the agents.
Later on, investigators wanted the mother to admit she smothered the baby by pushing her face into the mattress.
“Did you put your hand on the back of her head and neck and push her face into the mattress?” the male interrogator questions.
“I might have,” the mother responded.
Richard had waived her right to an attorney during the questioning, her attorney said.
“Katie was trying to help them figure out what happened. She was as helpful as she could be to the investigators, trying to because she wanted to know why her baby is dead,” said Little.
An autopsy found the baby died of asphyxiation, a cause of death that can include Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to Little.
“They went in looking for evidence of murder, thinking that she murdered her child. And the jury 100 percent rejected that because she didn't murder her child,” the attorney said.
“It could be that the kid suffocated on something in the crib. It could be that it was a case of SIDS. I think it's probably down to those two things, but SIDS doesn't really say anything. It could be a million things if you call it SIDS,” Little said.
The manslaughter conviction was based, in part, on the interrogation video, Little said.
“They made a lot of promises to her during the interrogation. And attempting, okay yeah, we're your friends. We're here to help. And that's what she was looking for. She was looking for somebody to help her figure out what happened to her kid. And when they came in and played that game, she fell right into it,” Little said.
Richard, now age 27, remains in the brig at MCAS Miramar. “She's in solitary confinement as a person whose only conviction has been overturned, rightfully so,” said Little.
CBS 8 reached out to the U.S. Coast Guard. A spokesperson responded, “The Coast Guard cannot comment on ongoing or pending legal proceedings.”
The Navy Times reported this week that Richard was reduced in rank to E-1 as part of her sentence. The Coast Guard has the option of refiling manslaughter charges to retry Richard. Or prosecutors could file their own appeal.
“The service has 60 days from the March 5 appellate decision to certify the case to a higher appeals court or accept it. The invalidated conviction means her rank will be reinstated and she’ll receive back pay for her time in confinement,” the Navy Times reported.
WATCH: Coast Guard Investigative Service interrogation of Kate Richard in 2020: