The courtroom fell silent as counselors read the words of three young boys—ages 9, 11, and 13—who no longer call their mother “Mom.” They call her **Kouri**. The woman who once positioned herself as a grief expert, authoring the children’s book *Are You With Me?* to help kids process loss after their father Eric Richins died in 2022, sat shackled in a lime-green prison jumpsuit on May 13, 2026—Eric’s would-have-been 44th birthday—listening as her own sons begged the judge to lock her away forever.

Kouri Richins, 35, had just been convicted of aggravated murder for poisoning Eric with a lethal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow Mule, plus attempted murder via a tainted sandwich weeks earlier, insurance fraud, and forgery. Yet nothing captured the horror more than the voices of the children she claimed to love and protect.

**“I Don’t Miss Kouri”**

Through therapists and counselors, the boys’ statements painted a picture of profound betrayal and fear. The oldest, now 13 and just 9 when his father died, wore Eric’s clothes to school for comfort. He told the court plainly: “I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be. I don’t miss Kouri. I will tell you that.” He expressed terror that if released, she would “come after me and my brothers, my whole family… take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us.”

The middle son echoed the dread: “I think Kouri should get a life sentence because what she did is very sick… it impacted a bunch of people, including me.” He, too, said he would feel unsafe if she ever walked free.

The youngest, who was in preschool at the time of the murder, was most raw: “I want her to go to prison forever. When someone talks about Kouri, it makes me feel hateful and ashamed… If she got out, I would be so scared… Once she is gone I will feel happy and I will feel safer and relaxed and trust people more.”

**Post-Death “Insane Actions” and Alleged Abuse**

Prosecutors detailed years of alleged emotional and physical abuse, supported by Utah Division of Child and Family Services findings. After Eric’s death, Kouri reportedly became “drunk almost daily,” locked the boys in their rooms, threatened to kill family pets as punishment, and forced disturbing “lessons”—such as making them watch videos of starving children in war zones if they complained about undercooked food.

One boy described paranoia instilled around their father’s side of the bed. Another spoke of wearing dad’s clothes not just for comfort but as a shield against the new reality dominated by fear. The children underwent intensive therapy after custody transferred to Eric’s family in early 2024. They had not seen or spoken to Kouri since.

The irony burned: The same mother who profited from a book teaching children about fireflies carrying loved ones’ spirits had orchestrated the very loss she pretended to mourn. Evidence showed she used a ghostwriter for much of *Are You With Me?*, promoting it tearfully on local TV while secretly facing financial ruin and an affair.

**Shackled in Court, Still Smiling at Times**

As the statements were read, Kouri sat shackled, occasionally making faces or shifting uncomfortably. Later, in her first public remarks since arrest, she delivered a lengthy, tearful message to her sons—offering marriage advice, claiming she never abandoned them, insisting letters and calls never reached them, and urging, “Please just don’t give up on me.” She told them to “be like your dad.”

The boys were not present. Their absence spoke volumes. Eric’s family amplified their pain in victim impact statements, describing permanent trauma and the horror of losing both parents—one to murder, the other to the justice system.

**A Mother’s Ultimate Betrayal**

Richins’ defense painted a different picture, but the jury and judge saw through it. Judge Richard Mrazik sentenced her to life without parole for aggravated murder, plus additional terms for the other charges. He emphasized her danger to society—and implicitly, to the very children she once rocked to sleep.

Behind the polished image of the grieving widow-author lay a calculated killer driven by debt, secret insurance policies worth millions, and a desire for a new life. The children, now healing in the care of Eric’s relatives, want nothing to do with that facade. They addressed her coldly by first name, rejected any notion of missing her, and pleaded only for safety.

Kouri Richins once asked in her book, “Are you with me?” Her sons, through tears and therapy, answered with chilling clarity: No. They stand with their father’s memory, demanding the woman who destroyed their family never walks free again. In a final twist of justice, the children’s book author who exploited grief now faces a lifetime of the very loss she inflicted—without her sons by her side.