John Jefferson
Inset: Rachel Modrow (Hennepin County Jail). Background: Rachel Modrow’s daughter being worked on by EMS (WCCO/YouTube).
A mom in Minnesota is heading to prison for causing the death of her 9-year-old daughter after she refused to let the parents of one of the girl’s friends take her to the hospital during an asthma attack she was having — opting to treat the child with a steam bath and “home remedies” instead, according to prosecutors.
Rachel Modrow, 36, of Hopkins, didn’t care that her daughter “was blue,” wheezing heavily and unable to raise her arms that day while at a sleepover with a friend, according to the criminal complaint filed against her last April by Hennepin County prosecutors. She was either going to treat her daughter’s asthma attack at home with her husband or take her to the hospital herself, per the mom of her daughter’s friend, who tried taking her for medical treatment but was denied.
“[The friend’s mom] drove victim home and told the defendants that she could take victim to a doctor, but the defendants refused the offer,” the complaint says. “[The friend’s mom] reported that victim was wheezing, breathing heavily … skin was blue … could not raise her arms … and she was crying.”
Modrow, who pleaded guilty in October, was sentenced to 41 months in prison Monday for second-degree manslaughter after she admitted to allowing the death of her daughter last February, according to court records. The child’s father, Anthony Modrow, pleaded not guilty to his second-degree manslaughter charge and is set to go on trial later this month, according to court records.
While at the friend’s house, Modrow’s daughter was using her grandmother’s inhaler on account of her parents not having one for her, the complaint says.
“[The friend’s mom] informed [Modrow] that victim’s breathing was getting worse, she was not faking it, and that victim could not breathe,” the document explains. “[Modrow] told her to bring victim home since they had an inhaler.”
According to the friend’s mom, the inhaler for Modrow was not helping curb the effects of the asthma attack. Anthony Modrow told police that their daughter was experiencing “wheezing, not able to breath[e], was crying, upset, and not feeling well.”
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He claimed that they tried her rescue inhaler and Advair, an inhalation asthma drug, “with no success,” according to the complaint. “He further stated they tried home remedies, such as a steam bath, with no effect,” the complaint says.
A family friend who was over at the couple’s house noticed the girl’s condition and called 911 to report them and got EMS workers to transport her to a local hospital, where she was kept for seven days in the ICU before doctors declared her brain-dead due to a loss of oxygen to her brain related to the asthma attack.
“Multiple doctors were consulted, including a Pediatric Critical Care doctor, who stated that victim would have had a much better chance to survive with earlier medical intervention and explained how important early medical intervention is for asthma,” the complaint says. “The doctor noted that a steam bath is not a recognized treatment for asthma. The doctor emphasized the importance of an asthma patient having a rescue inhaler and noted that using another person’s inhaler may not be effective because it may not contain the proper medication. Another medical professional, who treated victim in the hospital, stated the sooner the medical treatment, the better the outcome.”
Anthony Modrow’s trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 27.
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