Mom who claimed her twins died from vaccines charged with murder
Andrea Shaw appeared in a 2025 podcast with an anti-vaccination group.
An Idaho mom was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the 2025 deaths of her 18-month-old twins that she claimed, without evidence, were caused by vaccines.
Andrea Shaw, 23, was arrested on June 30 following a nearly year-long investigation into the deaths of her children, a boy and a girl. Prosecutors allege Shaw suffocated the children around May 1, 2025.
Shaw has not made a plea as of Thursday, according to her attorney, Joseph Filicetti.
Filicetti told ABC News he believed the case against his client was "weak" and said that he would be making a request for bail during her next court appearance on July 14.
"She is the most humble and quiet person I know," he said.
Shaw has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that vaccines led to her children's deaths and talked about those claims on a podcast hosted by the controversial anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense.
Routine childhood vaccines have been extensively studied in hundreds of large studies, are considered safe, and continue to be strongly recommended by major medical groups.
Shaw is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Children's Health Defense against the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has maintained that childhood vaccines are safe and effective.
Children's Health Defense, which was previously led by current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., heavily promotes vaccine disinformation and has been condemned by medical groups. Much of their messaging contains inaccurate information about vaccines.
RFK Jr. stepped away from the group in 2024 after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.
Children's Health Defense posted a video on its site after Shaw's indictment in which its chief executive, Mary Holland, said she would support Shaw.
"There’s zero evidence so far that this woman killed her children, zero," she said in the video.
Filicetti told ABC News that his client had given birth to another child five days before her arrest.
He maintained her innocence and claimed, without providing details, that the vaccines were a factor in the twins' death.
"We will have proof in trial," Filicetti said.
Shaw faces a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.
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