Alicia Ritenour Trial Begins, Five Testify
By Eduardo Zamarripa, CRI Weekly News
The testimonies for the trial of Oskaloosa resident Alicia Ritenour, 21, began this Thursday. Alicia Ritenour has been charged with murder in the first degree, and child endangerment, in the death of her 18-month old daughter Ava Ritenour. Alicia Ritenour has pled not guilty.
On Friday, Jan. 24 at approximately 2:11 p.m., the Oskaloosa Police Department received a 911 call from Apartment 224 at the Southern Hills Apartment Complex located at 18th Avenue East in Oskaloosa. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found 18-month old Ava Ritenour deceased.
According to the affidavit released by the Oskaloosa Police Department, the infant had been deceased “for a significant period of time” when they arrived on scene. A witness said it heard a loud thump during the middle of the night, of the previous night, according to the affidavit.
An autopsy was performed at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner on the body of Ava Ritenour on Jan. 25 and 26. It was determined that the cause of death had been trauma to the head. The manner of death was classified as a homicide, according to the police report.
Mahaska County Attorney Amy Zenor began the trial on Thursday (Nov. 13) with the state’s opening remarks. Zenor said the defendant showed “extreme indifference to human life” and has given the authorities different stories on what happened on Jan. 24. According to Zenor, Alicia Ritenour became less interested in her child, kept her apartment messy and said Ritenour “wasn’t happy with her life.”
The defendant’s attorney, Michael Adams told the jury in his opening remarks “you’re not deciding whether she was a good mother.” Adams said there are no eye witness accounts or forensic evidence to prove the defendant murdered her daughter. Adams also said that there was only one person that ever raised their fist on Ava Ritenour, and that was Logan Cavan.
Jacob Rauch, 23, was the first witness to take the stand. Rauch was Alicia Ritenour’s boyfriend at the time and had moved in with her a few months before Ava Ritenour passed away. At the same time that Rauch moved in, Logan Cavan, 20, also moved in with Rauch and Alicia Ritenour. Rauch referred to Cavan as his “best friend” and vice versa. Neither Rauch or Cavan paid rent at Alicia Ritenour’s apartment.
Rauch said Alicia Ritenour was “for the most part, a pretty good mom,” but added that things changed dramatically because Alicia Ritenour wanted to spend more time with Rauch. Rauch described Alicia Ritenour as distant, more frustrated and easily overwhelmed. Rauch said Alicia Ritenour wanted Cavan to move out because she wanted more attention from Jacob.
On the night before Ava Ritenour passed away, Rauch said that himself, Alicia Ritenour, Cody Ritenour (Alicia Ritenour’s brother), Cody’s boyfriend, Abigail Parker (Alicia Ritenour’s cousin), Abigail Parker’s girlfriend, and Cavan, all were hanging out and “smoking pot,” with the exception of Cavan, Abigail Parker and Abigail Parker’s girlfriend.
On the morning of Jan. 24, the day Ava Ritenour passed away, Rauch said he woke up to go to the bathroom and then was going to check on Ava Ritenour. Alicia Ritenour told Rauch that Ava Ritenour was sleeping and asked him not to check on her. Rauch and Alicia Ritenour had sexual intercourse, and Rauch then fell asleep.
Rauch then woke up to Alicia Ritenour and her mom Tina screaming at each other. Rauch went into Ava Ritenour’s room and saw her laying on the floor. Tina Ritenour asked Rauch to call 911, which Rauch did. Joshua Crouse, a paramedic at Mahaska Health Partnership and a certified medical examiner, arrived on scene.
Crouse took the stand after Rauch and said Ava Ritenour had been deceased for an unknown period of time when he arrived and had “obvious signs of death.” Crouse said Alicia Ritenour told him Ava Ritenour woke up at 8 a.m. that morning, had breakfast, and took a nap around 11 a.m.
After leaving the scene, Crouse inspected Ava Ritenour and felt several fractures in her skull. At that time, Crouse notified the Medical Examiner’s office.
Oskaloosa Police Department Lieutenant Russell VanRenterghem was the first person at the scene on Jan. 24 and took the stand after Crouse. When he arrived, VanRenterghem took over chest compressions for 1-2 minutes (Tina Ritenour was performing chest compressions when he arrived), but stopped after Crouse declared Ava Ritenour had no pulse.
VanRenterghem said he overheard Tina Ritenour blaming the doctor’s office for the passing of Ava Ritenour. Ava Ritenour had not been feeling well and had an appointment scheduled for Jan. 23, but Tina Ritenour said the doctor’s office cancelled the appointment.
VanRenterghem added Alicia Ritenour’s demeanor at the scene was “very strange.” VanRenterghem said Alicia Ritenour did not seem upset and was “texting” on her phone. Van Renterghem also said Cavan was sitting on the couch and “didn’t seem to have a demeanor” and was “kind of like a lump.”
Cavan took the stand next. Cavan said he met Alicia Ritenour, through his ex-girlfriend, when she was pregnant in September of 2012. Cavan said he moved into Alicia Ritenour’s apartment with Rauch because it was a place to “hang out with my buddy.” Cavan said everything was “alright” at first but then started going “downhill.” Cavan said Ritenour was “so infatuated with Jacob” and Cavan “rarely” got to see Rauch even though they lived in the same apartment.
Cavan also said Ava Ritenour was not getting the attention she needed, and that Alicia Ritenour would get upset when Cavan would tell her to take care of Ava Ritenour.
In regards to the incident mentioned by the defendant’s attorney, Adams, where he raised his fist on Ava Ritenour, Cavan said he did that in a joking manner.
In his testimony, Rauch said Cavan once told Ava Ritenour “shut the f**k up” and added, “all she f***ing does is cry.” In his testimony, Cavan denied he ever said that.
Oskaloosa Police Lieutenant Troy Boston was the last witness to take the stand on Thursday. Boston arrived at the scene at Southern Hills Apartment Complex at about 2:25 p.m. Boston said he heard the same story Alicia Ritenour gave Crouse. Ava Ritenour woke up at 8 a.m. that morning, had breakfast, and took a nap around 11 a.m.
Boston followed Crouse to the hospital and after learning about the fractures on Ava Ritenour’s skull, contacted the Department of Criminal Investigation, and got an autopsy.
The following day, on Jan. 25, Boston said that Alicia Ritenour gave a different story on what happened on Jan. 24. Boston said Alicia Ritenour told him she got up at 7:30 a.m., threw a bottle in Ava Ritenour’s room, and drove Abigail Parker, 15, to school. When she returned, Alicia Ritenour went to bed and didn’t check on Ava Ritenour.
Boston added that in the deposition on Oct. 21, Alicia Ritenour said that on Jan. 23, the night before Ava Ritenour passed away, she had heard a loud thump while taking a shower. Boston said this caught his attention because this detail had not been mentioned until that moment.
Boston, who has been a part of the investigation, also had an Oskaloosa Police Department officer check for Facebook posts on Alicia Ritenour’s Facebook from December 1, 2013 to Jan. 25. Boston mentioned a specific post on Jan. 20 where Alicia Ritenour posted a Facebook status in which she said that everywhere she steps there’s “piss” and said “my life’s like a big bowl of s**t.”
The defendant’s attorney, Adams, reminded the jury that you can’t equate a Facebook post to a person’s emotional stage, and that there’s no way of knowing if Alicia Ritenour posted that status. Adams also asked Boston if maybe the reason Alicia Ritenour gave him different stories was because she didn’t know what had happened and because she was under marijuana use.
Boston said “no” and added that Alicia Ritenour did not provide reasonable explanations for what had happened. Boston said in his experience, when someone loses a child, that individual is willing to help. Boston said Ritenour did not want to help.
Boston also followed up with Tina Ritenour’s comments on Ava Ritenour missing a doctor’s appointment. Boston said the doctor’s office said the appointment was cancelled by Alicia Ritenour because her car had broken down.
That testimony concluded the first day of the trial. The trial will continue tomorrow (Nov. 14) at 9 a.m. at the Mahaska County Courthouse.
