A girl died after her parents did not call an ambulance for three hours when she was suffering an asthma attack so severe she turned blue.
Amy Lynn Modrow, 9, died Feb. 17 when she was declared brain dead after a week in the ICU at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Her parents, Anthony and Rachel Modrow, both 34, were charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and accused of negligently causing Amy’s death.
Amy’s father allegedly didn’t refill his asthma inhaler for a month and her mother gave his ‘chicken nugget’ a steam bath instead of calling an ambulance.
As he lay dying in the hospital, his parents documented his condition on social media and asked for donations, raising more than $10,000 online.
Amy Lynn Modrow, 9, died Feb. 17 when she was declared brain dead after a week in the ICU at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Her father, Anthony Modrow, allegedly said Amy told him a month before her death that her inhaler was empty, but she never refilled it.
Her parents, Anthony and Rachel Modrow, both 34, were charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and accused of negligently causing Amy’s death.
‘My children are fighting for their lives after a serious asthma attack. Help us,” Rachel wrote on Twitter.
After Amy’s death, he posted a tweet tagging professional wrestler Rebecca Quinn and told his friends “let’s let this message be seen.”
‘My 9-year-old daughter just passed away, she was one of your biggest fans. You had a big impact on her. You were her hero. Thank you for giving him someone to look up to. “She always wanted to go to Wrestlemania,” she wrote.
The post was accompanied by a disturbing photo of Amy in the hospital, hooked up to machines with a tube down her throat.
Anthony made a series of Facebook posts sharing his grief in the weeks between Amy’s death and his arrest.
‘It’s official that Amy has not received any sedatives and has not woken up. She is brain dead. She is given until Sunday for organ donation. I need to go home, it hurts a lot. I said goodbye,’ she wrote on the day of her death.
He wrote on March 25: ‘Going to work with the kids and memories of Amy hurts. Returning home where she died. It’s not going well for me.
‘Wear[d] Be a proud homeowner. Now I’d rather consider the sale and look at building the bus I should have been doing after Amy graduated. My house is eating me alive.’
Amy’s parents shared updates about her condition on social media in the week before her death.
Paramedics only arrived after a family friend who was called to the house saw her turning blue, grabbed her, took her to the parking lot and called 911.
Amy’s father allegedly didn’t refill his asthma inhaler for a month and her mother gave his ‘chicken nugget’ a steam bath instead of calling an ambulance.
As he lay dying in the hospital, his parents documented his condition on social media and asked for donations, raising more than $10,000 online.
Amy’s asthma attack started when she was at a sleepover on February 9. Her friend noticed that she was not feeling well and told her mother.
The friend’s mother became increasingly worried the next morning because her inhaler, prescribed in her grandmother’s name, was not helping.
He called Anthony, who, according to court documents, simply sighed and handed the phone to his wife, who told him to bring her home.
The friend’s mother told her that Amy was “not faking” the asthma attack and offered to take her to a doctor, but was rebuffed.
Amy texted her mother at 7:09 a.m. asking for her medication, and when she got home at 7:30 a.m. she was wheezing, breathing hard, could barely walk, and asked to see a doctor.
Instead, her mother allegedly did nothing until 10 a.m., when she finally called a family friend to come check on her.
When the friend arrived, Amy’s skin was blue, she couldn’t lift her arms and she was crying, but Rachel simply ran her a steam bath, court documents allege.
Amy’s asthma attack started when she was at a sleepover on February 9. Her friend noticed that she was not feeling well and told her mother.
Amy’s friend’s mother called Anthony, who according to court documents simply sighed and handed the phone to his wife, who told him to bring her home.
The couple appeared in court Thursday, where bail was set at $25,000 with the condition of house arrest if they posted it.
The friend insisted that Amy needed to go to the hospital and finally grabbed her, took the girl to the parking lot of the apartment building and called 911 at 10:40 a.m.
Paramedics did not arrive until 10.57am and worked on her in the car park before rushing her to hospital.
Anthony allegedly said Amy told him a month before her death that her inhaler was empty, but she never refilled it.
Prosecutors wrote that pediatric doctors they consulted said Amy would have had a much better chance of surviving if her parents had immediately sent her to the hospital.
They also said that a steam bath was not a recognized treatment for an asthma attack.
The couple appeared in court Thursday, where bail was set at $25,000 with the condition of house arrest if they posted it.