Talford

BACKGROUND

On October 20, 2014, William Talford placed Liam in the RNPS sleeper in the master bedroom and went to another room to watch television. Susan Talford was out walking the family dog. At some point, the Talfords’ 10-year-old daughter told her father that Liam did not look right. William Talford found Liam in the RNPS sleeper, with his head tilted down and to the right; his skin looked blue. Talford called 911 and attempted CPR, but when first responders arrived at the house Liam was dead. The Talfords put Liam’s RNPS sleeper in their attic and threw away the RNPS sleeper belonging to his twin sister Willow. Their explanations for these acts varied. At one point, William Talford stated he threw away Willow’s RNPS sleeper rather than give it to a charity or another family because he “thought that thing had something to do with my son’s death.” Two years later in 2016, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner issued a report opining that the cause of Liam’s death was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). In April 2019, defendants recalled the RNPS sleeper. The recall notice stated: “Infant fatalities have occurred in [RNPS sleepers], after the infants rolled from their back…