A Washington County, Missouri judge sentenced 62-year-old Lawrence Riehl to 17 years in prison this week in the death of his 21-year-old son, who had autism and depended entirely on others for his care. Deputies found the young man dead on a bedroom floor in March 2025. He weighed 55 pounds, and the medical examiner determined he died after choking on his own feces, which investigators said he ate because he was starving. The room was described in court records as deplorable, with trash, empty food containers, and human feces, and evidence indicated he had been immobilized in the same position for an extended period.
Riehl entered an Alford plea to first-degree involuntary manslaughter, second-degree domestic assault, and misdemeanor abuse of a person with a disability. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain innocence while conceding that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction. The judge imposed the maximum on each count, 10 years for manslaughter and 7 for assault, to run consecutively. Prosecutors had originally filed a second-degree murder charge before amending it based on the evidence and autopsy findings.
What stands out in the case is the timeline. A medical visit in March 2024, a full year before the death, had already flagged the victim’s severe malnutrition and muscle loss from improper nutrition. The warning was documented, yet the outcome was unchanged. For families across the Suncoast who care for loved ones with disabilities or aging parents, that gap raises uncomfortable questions about who is responsible for following up when a red flag is already on the record.
Do you think 17 years is an appropriate sentence, or should the law allow more for cases like this?
