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An Idaho mother who publicly blamed vaccinations for the deaths of her twin toddlers has been charged with their murders more than a year after the children were found dead in their shared bed.
Andrea Shaw, 23, was arrested in Boise on June 30 and indicted on two counts of first-degree murder on June 29 by a Payette County grand jury. The charges allege that Shaw killed her 18-month-old twins, Dallas and Tyson, by suffocation on May 1, 2025. She was arraigned virtually on July 2 and is being held on a $2 million bond. If convicted or if she pleads guilty to first-degree murder, she could face life in prison or the death penalty.
The case has drawn significant attention because of Shaw’s public assertions about vaccine-related deaths and her appearances on an anti-vaccine podcast produced by Children’s Health Defense, an organization formerly led by current Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to court documents and accounts from Shaw, the twins received routine vaccinations including doses of hepatitis A, influenza, and DTaP shots on April 23, 2025, during an 18-month well-baby visit. Shaw claimed that she and her mother-in-law warned the pediatrician about a family history of adverse reactions to the flu vaccine, but said the doctor dismissed their concerns. Within hours of receiving the vaccines, Shaw said the toddlers became lethargic and ill. The following day, April 24, she brought them to St. Luke’s Emergency Room, where they exhibited severe symptoms including blue lips, lethargy, and sunken eyes. An emergency room physician documented a diagnosis of “post-immunization reaction, initial encounter.”
Days after the twins were found dead, Shaw and her husband appeared on a podcast produced by Children’s Health Defense, where Shaw claimed her children had died from the vaccinations. In a related fundraiser posted to GiveSendGo, she stated that both babies died in their sleep a few days after receiving the vaccines. The fundraiser raised more than $10,000. Shaw also became a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense against the American Academy of Pediatrics, in which she is described as a mother “whose children died following routine vaccinations.”
Payette police responded to a call on May 1, 2025, at approximately 11:30 a.m. reporting a possibly deceased child. Officers arrived at a residence on North Ninth Street in Payette and found both twins dead in a shared bed. A family member had discovered them and called 911. At that time, police announced they were investigating the deaths as a homicide with suspected foul play. Autopsies were conducted the following day in Ada County, but no official cause of death was publicly released.
The investigation continued for over a year before being presented to a grand jury. During grand jury proceedings, four witnesses testified, including three Payette Police Department officers and a pediatrician from St. Luke’s intensive care unit. On June 29, the grand jury returned the two first-degree murder charges, which require proof of premeditation.
The indictment alleges that Shaw suffocated her children, though police have not confirmed this allegation in their public statements. In an interview on the Children’s Health Defense podcast, Shaw claimed that during interrogation, police told her they had “determined asphyxiation” and suggested she had “a postpartum overwhelming blackout and done it to my children.”
Shaw’s attorney, Joseph Filicetti, has maintained his client’s innocence and stated his belief that the twins died from vaccinations. Speaking to local news outlets, Filicetti said, “They were looking at it as a vaccine death, and that’s still what I believe it to be.” He characterized the first-degree murder charges as “brutal” and questioned the decision to proceed through a grand jury rather than a preliminary hearing that would have allowed both sides to present expert testimony. He also argued there is no evidence of suffocation or a clear motive.
Filicetti noted that Shaw recently gave birth to another baby on June 25, 2026, about three weeks prematurely through a cesarean section, and that her husband is currently caring for the newborn while she remains in jail. If released on bond, Shaw would be prohibited from having contact with anyone younger than 18 and would be subject to additional conditions.
Shaw’s next appearance in Payette County District Court is scheduled for July 14. She remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty.