The Devastating Story of Rebecca Jeanne Riley's Overmedication Part 3

After Kelly Williams and her son moved into the Weymouth apartment, she soon began to notice the negligence and the overmedication the children were being exposed to.

Williams later recalled that Carolyn kept the kids’ drugs in a big pill box and would hand them their clonidine pill at 7:30 pm every night. Even though Riley was meant to get three half-pills of clonidine a day, Williams and Carolyn’s half-brother, McGonnell told the cops that whenever they watched Carolyn give Riley her medicine, she always gave her one whole pill. Williams said that Carolyn had admitted once that she felt the amount of medicine was “too much,” but she was giving her that quantity because she was obeying the doctor.

When Riley's preschool teachers called Kifuji in early November 2006, they expressed their worry about how much medicine the girl was taking. Kifuji wanted to talk about lowering Riley's clonidine amount, but Carolyn got upset when she learned about the call and said the school never reached out to her.

The restraining order against Michael expired in November 2006 because Carolyn did not renew it. But she told DSS officials on November 10 that it was still valid. She also said to DSS that she planned to relocate to Hull, Massachusetts, with McGonnell and Williams and leave Michael behind. Later that month, a neighbor assaulted Michael at the Weymouth flat.

The Rileys (except for Michael), McGonnell, Williams, and their son relocated from Weymouth to Hull, Massachusetts, on November 14. Michael joined them in early December, ignoring the limits on visiting his kids and Carolyn's denial that he would live with them.

According to McGonnell and Williams, the Riley children would hide in their rooms when their dad was around because Michael hated any "noise." Williams said Michael would often tell Carolyn to give the kids clonidine to "make them quiet" or "relax them," which made Carolyn start giving them their evening clonidine as soon as 5:30 PM instead of the 7:30 PM she was used to. With Michael in the house, the overmedication was made worse by the abuse he unleashed on the children.

Riley's health worsened visibly in the months leading up to her death. McGonnell and Williams reported during their interview that Riley turned into a "zombie," during her last days; she slept up to 17 hours a day, only getting up to eat. Riley's preschool teachers observed that she was so frail that an assistant had to hold her up when she sat.

The Sad End of Rebecca Riley

Riley started showing signs of a cold on Friday, December 8. The next day, she got a "barking cough" similar to croup. By December 10, she was feverish, throwing up and not eating, and allegedly rejected the cough medicine Carolyn tried to give her.

Available on Amazon

WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS: 20 Most Shocking True Crime Stories of Miscarriage of Justice

She became delusional, and she started roaming around the house aimlessly. Williams and McGonnell, worried about Riley's condition, kept urging Carolyn to take her to the clinic or the ER. But Carolyn said that Riley had an appointment with her doctor on December 11, even though she never tried to book an appointment. The following day, instead of taking her to the doctor, the parents took her to a Social Security office to ask about a late payment of her disability benefit.

On the night of December 12, 2006, Riley looked disoriented when she knocked on her parents' door. Williams said the girl wanted to call her mother, but she couldn't say "mama" or "Mommy" without gagging. When she reached her parent's door, her father, Michael reprimanded her and shouted "Go to your fucking room," and kept Riley out. She came back to her parents' door two more times; both times, Michael yelled at her and sent her back to her room.

Part 4