{"id":"1792782357532-news-segment","slug":"idaho-seeks-death-penalty-for-twin-murders","title":"Idaho seeks death penalty for twin murders","summary":"A viral thread lists roughly 50 U.S. cases from 2026 in which mothers were charged in their children's deaths, but \"awaiting trial\" or \"awaiting charges\" means most are allegations, not convictions. The broader claim that \"more children have died this year by the hands of their mother than school shootings\" reflects the fact that children are far more often killed by family members than in school shootings—but the specific numbers and framing in the thread are not independently verified.\n\nProsecutors filed notice to seek the death penalty against Andrea Shaw, the Payette, Idaho mother charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her 18-month-old twins. This is a promotional/opinion post about a video and does not make a checkable factual assertion.\n\nThis post is repackaging the same viral list of cases; the entries cite charges and arrests, not convictions, so the list does not establish how many children have been killed by mothers, and many cases remain allegations. This is a personal/advocacy post expressing the author's feelings about Ukraine; it includes no specific checkable factual claim. This is satire/opinion impersonating a political figure (\"Darth Putin\"); it is not a factual statement by Russia.","publishedAt":"2026-10-23T19:05:57.532Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"Washington","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"MISLEADING","notes":"MISLEADING: A viral thread lists roughly 50 U.S. cases from 2026 in which mothers were charged in their children's deaths, but \"awaiting trial\" or \"awaiting charges\" means most are allegations, not convictions. The broader claim that \"more children have died this year by the hands of their mother than school shootings\" reflects the fact that children are far more often killed by family members than in school shootings—but the specific numbers and framing in the thread are not independently verified.\nSource: [verifymate.ai](https://verifymate.ai/v/Df3UAGBy83noJ1Yrx1kTg) (https://x.com/Sassafrass_84/status/2111668285460676678)\n\nTRUE: Prosecutors filed notice to seek the death penalty against Andrea Shaw, the Payette, Idaho mother charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her 18-month-old twins. This is a promotional/opinion post about a video and does not make a checkable factual assertion.\nSource: [threadreaderapp.com](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2111668285460676678.html) POST 2113353107564613827: NOCLAIM None (https://x.com/Kentuckygirl1/status/2112922948768030797)\n\nMISLEADING: This post is repackaging the same viral list of cases; the entries cite charges and arrests, not convictions, so the list does not establish how many children have been killed by mothers, and many cases remain allegations. This is a personal/advocacy post expressing the author's feelings about Ukraine; it includes no specific checkable factual claim. This is satire/opinion impersonating a political figure (\"Darth Putin\"); it is not a factual statement by Russia.\nSource: [threadreaderapp.com](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2111668285460676678.html) POST bsky:at://did:plc:vw2etn54x7fz4rc7q3md4qo7/app.bsky.feed.post/3myigw4mds (https://x.com/LynneShasta40/status/2111961333994275158)","claims":[{"verdict":"MISLEADING","summary":"A viral thread lists roughly 50 U.S. cases from 2026 in which mothers were charged in their children's deaths, but \"awaiting trial\" or \"awaiting charges\" means most are allegations, not convictions. The broader claim that \"more children have died this year by the hands of their mother than school shootings\" reflects the fact that children are far more often killed by family members than in school shootings—but the specific numbers and framing in the thread are not independently verified.","sourceName":"[verifymate.ai](https://verifymate.ai/v/Df3UAGBy83noJ1Yrx1kTg)","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Sassafrass_84/status/2111668285460676678","claim":"Did you know that more children have died this year by the hands of their mother than school shootings? Well you’re about to find out how many. The list is long and I will have to do a secondary post in the comments. Here’s the full list you provided (45 cases): 1. Jan 1,","author":"Sassafrass84 (@Sassafrass_84)"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Prosecutors filed notice to seek the death penalty against Andrea Shaw, the Payette, Idaho mother charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her 18-month-old twins. This is a promotional/opinion post about a video and does not make a checkable factual assertion.","sourceName":"[threadreaderapp.com](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2111668285460676678.html) POST 2113353107564613827: NOCLAIM None","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Kentuckygirl1/status/2112922948768030797","claim":"On Friday, prosecutors filed notice they intend to seek the death penalty against a mom accused of murdering her twin toddlers. Idaho mom, Andra Renee Shaw, 23, of Payette, is charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder in deaths of her twins. Tyson and Dallas, 18 months old, http","author":"Kentucky Girl (@Kentuckygirl1)"},{"verdict":"MISLEADING","summary":"This post is repackaging the same viral list of cases; the entries cite charges and arrests, not convictions, so the list does not establish how many children have been killed by mothers, and many cases remain allegations. This is a personal/advocacy post expressing the author's feelings about Ukraine; it includes no specific checkable factual claim. This is satire/opinion impersonating a political figure (\"Darth Putin\"); it is not a factual statement by Russia.","sourceName":"[threadreaderapp.com](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2111668285460676678.html) POST bsky:at://did:plc:vw2etn54x7fz4rc7q3md4qo7/app.bsky.feed.post/3myigw4mds","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/LynneShasta40/status/2111961333994275158","claim":"@DarellLemailvc Here’s the full list you provided (45 cases): 1. Jan 1, 2026 — Melinda Spencer (Kentucky) — Charged with 1st-degree fetal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and evidence tampering after a male infant was found buried on her property. Awaiting Trial 2. Jan 7, 2026 —","author":"Lynne C. (@LynneShasta40)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/Sassafrass_84/status/2111668285460676678","name":"[verifymate.ai](https://verifymate.ai/v/Df3UAGBy83noJ1Yrx1kTg)","kind":"x","verdict":"MISLEADING","author":"Sassafrass84 (@Sassafrass_84)"},{"url":"https://x.com/Kentuckygirl1/status/2112922948768030797","name":"[threadreaderapp.com](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2111668285460676678.html) POST 2113353107564613827: NOCLAIM None","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Kentucky Girl (@Kentuckygirl1)"},{"url":"https://x.com/LynneShasta40/status/2111961333994275158","name":"[threadreaderapp.com](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2111668285460676678.html) POST bsky:at://did:plc:vw2etn54x7fz4rc7q3md4qo7/app.bsky.feed.post/3myigw4mds","kind":"x","verdict":"MISLEADING","author":"Lynne C. (@LynneShasta40)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792782357532-news-segment-idaho-seeks-death-penalty-for-twin-murders","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792782357532-news-segment-idaho-seeks-death-penalty-for-twin-murders","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1792782357532-news-segment-idaho-seeks-death-penalty-for-twin-murders and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Bella","text":"Brian, a list is going around claiming more kids died this year at the hands of their mothers than in school shootings."},{"host":"Brian","text":"I saw it. Forty-five cases listed, and it's grisly reading."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And it's mostly charges and arrests. Awaiting trial. Not convictions."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So the framing's already shaky before you get to the deeper problem."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The deeper problem is real though. Kids are far more likely to be killed by family members than in school shootings."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's the thing. School shootings are horrific and they get wall-to-wall coverage. But family violence is the quiet epidemic."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And this thread is exploiting that truth with a pile of unverified allegations to score points."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Because every few years someone uses dead kids to prove the other side doesn't care about dead kids. It's obscene."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And here's a new case that's going to be in the news for a long time."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Prosecutors in Idaho are seeking the death penalty against Andrea Shaw. Twenty-three, the mother of eighteen-month-old twins."},{"host":"Bella","text":"She's charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Tyson and Dallas."},{"host":"Brian","text":"No matter how this plays out in court, those are two toddlers who won't grow up."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And I'll be honest, the death penalty in these cases... I struggle with what it actually accomplishes."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But if this woman killed her own infants, isn't that exactly the kind of case the law was written for?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"It feels that way. But the trials are hellish, appeals drag for decades, and Idaho families get no real closure."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Closure isn't the point of the death penalty. Justice is. And some crimes simply forfeit your right to appeal."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Justice or vengeance? Because if the system sometimes convicts innocent people, the one irreversible punishment gets terrifying."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The state doesn't seek death lightly. It's reserved for the worst of the worst. This, allegedly, qualifies."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Allegedly. Right there. That word is doing a lot of work."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fine. Let's watch it in court. But the alternative is a conviction and decades of public money keeping her alive."},{"host":"Bella","text":"It actually costs more to execute someone than to imprison for life. The appeals process is enormous."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So we're making a two-year-old's murder about budget line items."},{"host":"Bella","text":"We're making it about whether the state should kill people. That's the argument."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And it's one we're not settling today. Moving to a very different corner of the world."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was in Kyiv. Reports say seven documents signed with Ukraine, worth three hundred million euros."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Some of those details are unconfirmed. The satellite company ICEYE and Nokia are said to be involved."},{"host":"Bella","text":"What's not in dispute is the trend. Northern Europe keeps leaning further into Ukraine's defense."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Finland knows what it's like to share a border with Russia. They're not waiting for permission to help."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And the satirical account Darth Putin on Bluesky summed up Moscow's position pretty sharply."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The line was: Russia requires a security guarantee that Ukraine will not defend itself the next time we attack it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"It's a joke account, but the key word there is security guarantee. That's what Russia keeps saying it wants."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And that's exactly the cynical part. They want to freeze the front line while Ukraine disarms. Who signs that?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"And Ukraine itself is still posting the raw version of this war, not the diplomatic one."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Angelica Shalagina, a Ukrainian on Bluesky, wrote that Ukraine is not a headline you can scroll past. It's her home."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That post got hundreds of reposts for a reason. The war is people, not briefings."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And it arrives in the same feed as a satire account making fun of Russia's demands. The whiplash is the internet now."},{"host":"Bella","text":"A human rights group posted a video claiming liberals can't name a single human rights violation. The replies were predictable."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It was a promotional clip for someone's YouTube channel. Not a study, not a poll."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And the framing was that a civil jury verdict isn't a human rights violation. But civil courts enforce civil rights law all the time."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So the whole exercise was: find random people on a street, edit the dumb answers, call it proof the other side's clueless."},{"host":"Bella","text":"You can do that to any political group. It's not evidence. It's content."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And it works because nobody checks the full tape. The meme travels, the correction doesn't."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the whole show today, really: real horrors, real war, and piles of internet noise passing as argument."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The signal is still there. You just have to dig through the outrage merchants to find it."}]}