Andrea Shaw was held on $2 million bond after a grand jury indictment tied to the May 2025 deaths.
PAYETTE, ID — A 23-year-old Idaho mother has been indicted on two first-degree murder charges more than a year after her 18-month-old twins were found dead in a shared bed at a Payette home, police said.
Andrea Shaw was arraigned Thursday in Payette County after a grand jury returned the indictment in the deaths of Dallas Shaw and Tyson Shaw. The case now moves from a long police investigation into court, where prosecutors must prove the charges and defense attorneys are expected to challenge the state’s theory. Shaw is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Payette police first responded May 1, 2025, to a home in the 1300 block of North 9th Street after a 911 caller reported a possible child death. Officers arrived around 11:30 a.m. and found the twins dead in a shared bed. Police said early in the case that foul play was suspected and that the deaths were being handled as a homicide. A family member found the children and called 911. Autopsies were conducted the next day in Ada County. Payette police later said the arrest followed a “lengthy and thorough” investigation involving several agencies.
The indictment alleges Shaw suffocated the children, according to court records described in local reports. Police have not publicly released a full cause and manner of death, and officials have not laid out the evidence that was presented to the grand jury. Shaw was arrested about 4 p.m. Tuesday in Boise by Boise police officers and was booked into the Ada County Jail before being moved through the court process in Payette County. At Thursday’s hearing, 3rd District Magistrate Judge Robert L. Jackson set bond at $2 million. Shaw had been living outside Payette but was still in Idaho when officers found her.
Defense attorney Joe Filicetti said he began working with Shaw shortly after the twins died and has questioned the murder charges. He said the children were born about three months early, spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit and later became sick after receiving vaccines. Filicetti said Shaw had taken the twins to a St. Luke’s pediatrician and had contacted a doctor’s office the night before they were found dead. “If a mom was intending to kill her kids, why would she be taking them to the doctor?” Filicetti said. He called the case medical, not criminal, and said he expects medical issues to be central to the defense.
The deaths drew wider attention after Shaw and her husband spoke publicly in the days after the children died and suggested vaccines had caused the twins’ illness. Investigators did not announce an arrest at the time. The case remained open for more than a year while police, prosecutors and other agencies reviewed medical findings, interviews and other records. Officials have not said why they sought a grand jury indictment rather than a preliminary hearing. Filicetti criticized that choice, saying a preliminary hearing would have allowed defense lawyers to question witnesses and test expert claims earlier in the case.
Shaw appeared in court Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder. If convicted, she could face life in prison or the death penalty under Idaho law, though prosecutors have not publicly announced whether they will seek a death sentence. Court records show Shaw is scheduled to return to court July 14 for further proceedings. Payette police said that because the case is now in court, the department would not make further comments about the facts of the case or the evidence.
The case has shaken Payette, a small city near the Oregon border, because the children were toddlers and because the investigation stayed active for more than a year before charges were filed. Filicetti said Shaw recently gave birth to another baby, born prematurely, and said the family had stayed in the area despite knowing charges could come. “They’ve both been in the area for over a year, knowing something could happen, and they didn’t run,” he said. Prosecutors have not made a detailed public statement beyond the charges now listed in court.
Shaw remained in custody after her arraignment. The next scheduled court date is July 14, when the case is expected to move into its next procedural stage.
Author note: Last updated July 3, 2026.