A 27-year-old Kent County mother already charged with murdering her 2-year-old daughter is now accused of killing her infant son in 2021, prosecutors said Tuesday, alleging she told detectives she suffocated both children after previously claiming they were sick with a rare virus.
Officials said the new case stems from a review launched after the toddler’s death in September 2025. Investigators with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office reexamined the earlier loss of the baby boy, which had been attributed to illness at the time. The mother, identified as Irene Aiyana Whitehead of Cedar Springs, now faces open murder and first-degree child abuse counts in both deaths. She is being held at the Kent County jail without bond as prosecutors prepare filings that could move the cases toward a preliminary examination in district court. The allegations center on confessions, digital evidence and medical findings that investigators say contradict her earlier public statements about an ultra-rare parainfluenza infection.
Deputies were called to Whitehead’s home on Sept. 3, 2025, and found her 2-year-old daughter, Ryleigh, unresponsive. In interviews that followed, detectives said, Whitehead described suffocating the toddler and said she had wanted the child “to die.” She allegedly wrote a note weeks later stating, “I killed them,” referring to Ryleigh and her infant son, who died at 2 months old in 2021. Authorities said the confession and a re-reading of autopsy and hospital records prompted the homicide charge in the baby’s case, which had been considered a natural death tied to illness. The sheriff’s office characterized the evidence as unusually detailed for a child death investigation.
According to investigators, Whitehead had appeared on local TV and social media in 2023 discussing what she said was her newborn daughter’s fight against an ultra-rare virus. Detectives say those accounts became part of the case file after the 2025 death, as they compared the media descriptions with medical charts and new statements. Prosecutors said a search of her devices turned up queries about suffocation methods and questions about proving asphyxia in young children. The medical examiner in Ryleigh’s case initially listed asphyxia as a possibility, and officials said an amended report designating homicide is expected. They added that final updates to the infant’s 2021 records are pending further analysis.
Court records outline a timeline in which Whitehead was the only adult at home when the toddler died. After her interviews with detectives, investigators obtained additional videos from inside the residence, including one from weeks earlier in which an older child accused Whitehead of wanting him to die, according to authorities. Officials said they have not charged anyone else and did not identify a defense attorney on file for Whitehead as of Tuesday. The sheriff’s office and county prosecutors held a briefing to announce the added murder count and to emphasize that no plea offer is contemplated at this stage.
Whitehead’s family lived in Cedar Springs, a city about 20 miles north of Grand Rapids. The 2021 death of her infant son, identified by relatives as Leonard or “Leo,” had been attributed to a viral pneumonia. After the toddler’s death last year, detectives said they re-reviewed neonatal care records, EMS reports and pathology notes. The sheriff said the older case was reopened based on the mother’s admissions and the apparent mismatch between medical findings and the public narrative about a rare pathogen. Authorities said they have not found evidence that either child had parainfluenza at the time of death.
The charges filed this week are open murder, allowing a jury to consider first- or second-degree murder at trial, and first-degree child abuse, a felony. An arraignment on the new counts was set for Jan. 14, with a separate preliminary examination in the toddler case slated for early February. Prosecutors said they will continue to collect medical records, digital evidence and witness statements, including interviews with pediatric clinicians who treated the children in 2021 and 2025. Officials declined to elaborate on any mental health assessments, saying those would be addressed in court if raised by the defense.
Neighbors described a quiet residential street where cruisers and ambulances converged on Sept. 3 as word spread that a child had died. Outside the sheriff’s office Tuesday, several residents gathered to watch the announcement. “It’s hard to hear,” said Amanda Reeves, who lives near the Cedar Springs address listed in court papers. “A lot of us remember the news stories about the virus, and now this.” At the jail, booking logs listed Whitehead as held without bond. The county’s public defender office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Child death prosecutions sometimes hinge on competing medical opinions and the weight jurors give to a defendant’s statements. Investigators say the admissions here are direct and supported by surrounding evidence, but they acknowledged that elements of the timeline—especially in the 2021 case—remain under review. The sheriff’s office said it expects to file supplemental reports as lab results arrive and as the medical examiner finalizes cause and manner determinations. Prosecutors said any additional charges would be announced in open court.
As of Tuesday evening, Whitehead remained jailed ahead of her next hearing. The toddler case is moving toward a February date when a judge will decide whether to send the charges to circuit court for trial. The newly filed murder count in the infant’s death will follow the same path once arraignment is complete. Officials said they will release further updates as records are unsealed and reports are amended.
Author note: Last updated January 14, 2026.