{"id":3370,"date":"2026-06-30T22:08:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3370"},"modified":"2026-06-30T22:08:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:08:39","slug":"long-island-mom-drank-booze-in-bathroom-as-baby-choked-to-death-on-popcorn-kernels-da","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3370","title":{"rendered":"Long Island mom drank booze in bathroom as baby choked to death on popcorn kernels: DA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A drug-addicted Long Island mom allegedly fed her 18-month old son unpopped popcorn kernels in a drunken stupor \u2014 then left him and his sister alone to drink in the bathroom while he choked to death.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Heartbreaking photos show Florida hiker, 31, who was killed by alligator as boyfriend desperately tried saving her<\/a><\/p>\n

Olivia Bithorn, 36, was slapped with manslaughter child endangerment charges in the heartbreaking April 19 death of little Luke Russell Jr., who cops found unresponsive and turning blue in his Merrick home near piles of kernels \u2014 just steps away from an empty bottle of Tito\u2019s vodka in the bathroom, court records said.<\/p>\n

The self-admitted drug addict and alcoholic mother allegedly left her son unattended with his 3-year-old sister, feeding them both unpopped popcorn kernels, which her son eventually choked on and died as Bithron was downing booze in the bathroom of her Merrick home, according to the records.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the police walked in that nightmare of a scene on April 12, 2026 \u2014 besides seeing 18 month old Luke Russell, Jr. laying in front of them, unresponsive, already turning blue from asphyxiation, surrounded by dozens of unpopped popcorn kernels, which would ultimately and unsurprisingly be the cause of his death when one became lodged in his throat,\u201d prosecutors detailed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Police] also found a nearly empty bottle of Tito\u2019s vodka in the bathroom, where the defendant had been drinking it while her children remained unsupervised in the living room,\u201d prosecutors added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bithorn broke down in tears in Nassau County court on Monday, when she was held on half a million dollars baiil. She had previously been confined to a drug and alcohol treatment facility with an ankle monitor last week, when she pleaded not guilty to the charges.<\/p>\n

Photos from inside the home obtained by The Post show toys and kernels strewen around the living room with the empty vodka bottle lying next to the baby\u2019s pacifier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The troubled mom originally told police she had made popcorn for her daughter and sat down to watch a movie \u2014 claiming some of it must have spilled on the floor unnoticed, officials said.<\/p>\n

But prosecutors said Bithron left the children unattended for over an hour as she sucked down vodka \u2014 and they said she was so liquored up that she could barely stand by the time authorities arrived.<\/p>\n

Read more Video shows tragic moped crash that killed 13-year-old scooter rider as witness rails on \u2018real murderer\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Bithron allegedly told cops she had gotten stumbly drunk by popping the Tito\u2019s in her freezer in the minutes after they arrived.<\/p>\n

A subsequent search warrant after her son\u2019s death found multiple empty liquor bottles in a trash bag outside the apartment, which she claimed was from days prior when she had company.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors, though, said Bithorn has \u201cwhat has proven to be an unmanageable substance abuse problem\u201d \u2014 with a history of binge drinking episodes dating back years, including two that put her unborn children at risk.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2024, while pregnant with her now-deceased son, who would be born that October \u2014 Bithorn took her husband\u2019s car with their 3-year-old daughter inside and went on a binge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

She crashed the car in Astoria, Queens and was later found in a nearby Starbucks incomprehensible and covered in bruises, while her daughter was soaking wet, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

At the hospital, her husband was told by a doctor that based on Bithorn\u2019s blood alcohol content, he could not guarantee Luke would suffer no lasting consequences from the crash, sources detailed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bithorn also drank heavily while pregnant with her daughter in late 2022 and early 2023, sources claimed.<\/p>\n

She was briefly reported missing last August, according to a missing persons flyer obtained by The Post.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Texas mom\u2019s bloody last stand revealed before allegedly being stabbed to death by twisted teen Cookie<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drug-addicted Long Island mom Olivia Bithorn allegedly fed her 18-month old son unpopped popcorn kernels in a drunken stupor \u2014 then left him and his sister alone to drink in the bathroom while he choked to death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-long-island"],"yoast_head":"\nLong Island mom drank booze in bathroom as baby choked to death on popcorn kernels: DA - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3370\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Long Island mom drank booze in bathroom as baby choked to death on popcorn kernels: DA - 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