Ritenour Found Guilty On Both Charges

Oskaloosa, Iowa – After nearly two days of deliberation, a Mahaska County jury returned the maximum penalty to Alicia Ritenour on Wednesday afternoon, at about 1pm.

The jury, comprised of 8 men and 4 women found Alicia Ritenour guilty of Murder in the First Degree and guilty of Child Endangerment Resulting in Death.

Ritenour could be heard crying as the court attendant read the verdicts. As is normal in most high profile court cases, a heavy police presence was on hand to provide security for all parties involved.

Alicia Ritenour’s sentencing will be decided on January 2, 2015 at 11 a.m.

First Degree Murder carries a life sentence without a chance of parole.

On Friday, January 24, 2014, at approximately 2:11pm, the Oskaloosa PD 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 Ava Ritenour,18 months old, deceased.

An autopsy was performed at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner on the body of Ava Ritneour on January 25 and 26, 2014 by Dr. Michele Catellier, who determined the cause of death to be trauma to the head. The manner of death was classified as a homicide.

During the first day of the trial, Mahaska County Attorney Amy Zenor opened the case for the State. Zenor said the defendant showed “extreme indifference to human life” and has given the authorities different stories on what happened on Jan. 24. Zenor said, “We talked to everyone. We weren’t interested in pointing fingers at anyone. We wanted the truth.”

According to Zenor, Alicia Ritenour became less interested in her child, kept her apartment messy and said Ritenour “wasn’t happy with her life.”

Ritenour’s attorney, Michael Adams told the jury that, “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.

The Prosecution used what is commonly called a “Bookend Case”, the prosecution starts off testimony with it’s strongest witness and ends with a strong witness.

Jacob Rauch was the prosecutions first witness. 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.

During Rauch’s testimony, a very emotional 911 call was played to the jury. Jury members looked to be very moved by what they heard.

Rauch made that 911 call the morning Ava was discovered by the defendants mother. Rauch went into Ava Ritenour’s room and saw her laying on the floor. Tina Ritenour, defendants mother, 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, in his initial examination of Ava felt several fractures in her skull. Crouse then notified the State Medical Examiners Office.

Oskaloosa Police Department Lieutenant Russell VanRenterghem was the first emergency responder to arrive on the scene, and the third person to take the stand. 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.

Logan Cavan was the third adult living in the apartment at the time of Ava’s death. Cavan said he moved into Alicia Ritenour’s apartment with Rauch because it was a place to “hang out with my buddy.”

Cavan was the focus of the Defense in the trial, and defense attorney Michael Adams pointed out events involving Cavan where it was claimed Cavan had been heard by a neighbor saying about Ava, “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 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.

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.

On Friday, the State called its next best witness in Dr. Michelle Catellier who is an Associate Medical Examiner for the State of Iowa, and performed an autopsy on Ava Ritenour on Jan. 25.

Catellier described the injuries inflicted on Ava Ritenour. “There was significant injury on the head,” Catellier said.

Catellier said that based on the fractures she examined, she estimated at least four to five blows to the head. Catellier also explained that determining a time of death is a very difficult. She went on to say that Ava Ritenour could have been deceased from six to 24 hours before she was found.

Catellier also described the force used as “excessive and extreme,” and added that the fractures she found were equivalent to the fractures she would find in a motor vehicle accident.

Earlier on Friday, Agent Don Schnitker testified as well. Schnitker is the lead agent of the investigation and works for the Department of Criminal Investigation.

Schnitker interviewed Alicia Ritenour on three separate occasions and said he found “inconsistencies” with her story. Specifically, Schnitker said Alicia Ritenour gave different stories on what she did the morning of the passing of Ava Ritenour.

Catellier and Schnitker concluded the state’s presentation of evidence.

The Defense started with Abigail Parker. Parker, Alicia Ritenour’s cousin, described Ritenour as her “sister” and said Alicia Ritenour is a good mother. Parker had temporarily moved into Alicia Ritenour’s apartment because her dad was working out of town. Alicia Ritenour would drive Parker to school, in particular, Ritenour drove Parker to school the day Ava’s body was discovered.

Parker said Cavan was not around Ava Ritenour very much and referred to him as a “very temperamental person.” Parker said Cavan would get upset whenever he was asked to do chores around the house.

The Defense then called on Megan Carmer, and Michael Gaarder, both family friends of the Ritenours.

Carmer said Alicia Ritenour was a “good mother” and that she was always very careful and protective with Ava Ritenour. Carmer also said she had never heard of Rauch and did not know he was in a relationship with Alicia Ritenour. Gaarder said that Alicia Ritenour parented Ava Ritenour “very well”.

The defense lastly called on Ashley Parks and Zachary Beason. Parks and Beason lived in Apt. 221, right across from Alicia Ritenour.

Beason talked about an incident in which Cavan clenched his fist and raised it towards Ava Ritenour saying, “shut the f**k up” and “all she f***ing does is cry.” Beason said Cavan did not hit Ava Ritenour and said that’s the only time he saw Cavan do that. Beason told Rauch about the incident. Parker confirmed seeing Cavan raise his fist towards Ava Ritenour as well.

On Friday, Alicia Ritenour took the stand in her own defense. Ritenour talked about her parenting. She said she was very proud of her daughter and added, “I’m not gonna say I was a perfect mom.” Ritenour said on the stand, and in evidence presented, how Ava was everything to her.

Ritenour openly confessed to not having a good memory, and her attorney, Michael Adams, asked her about the state’s allegations that she had “inconsistent” stories in the interviews she provided. Ritenour agreed they were different from interview to interview.

Alicia Ritenour said “she was really ticked off” that the authorities kept asking her questions instead of trying to revitalize Ava Ritenour. Alicia Ritenour added that she was going through a lot and acknowledged giving different information to the authorities, but said she tried to revoke some of her comments once she realized she had provided the wrong information.

“I don’t know how someone is supposed to deal with this,” Alicia Ritenour said.

Alicia Ritenour also said she expressed concerns about Cavan on her second interview on Jan. 31, because she spoke to her neighbors Ashley Parks and Zachary Beason the day of Ava Ritenour’s funeral. Beason and Parks told Alicia Ritenour about an incident in which Cavan clenched his fist and raised it towards Ava Ritenour saying, “shut the f**k up” and “all she f***ing does is cry”.

On the day of Ava Ritenour’s passing, Jan. 24, Alicia Ritenour said she woke up and put a bottle in Ava Ritenour’s room before driving Abigail Parker, her cousin, to school. Alicia Ritenour said that when she returned from driving Parker to school, Cavan was sleeping on the couch with a pink blanket (Ava Ritenour was found deceased with a “vanilla-colored” blanket; a blanket that the defense claims was typically used by Cavan).

The court went into recess until Monday, and Ritenour once again took the stand in her defense.

Assistant Attorney General Susan Krisko asked Alicia Ritenour about the different versions she offered the police in the three interviews she gave. Krisko asked Alicia Ritenour about Joshua Crouse’s testimony, a paramedic at Mahaska Health Partnership at the time, in which Crouse said Alicia Ritenour told him she had fed Ava Ritenour cereal upon returning from driving her cousin Abigail Parker to school.

Alicia Ritenour responded to Krisko by saying she didn’t remember what she had told Crouse and reminded the court several times that she has “very bad memory”.

Krisko also questioned Alicia Ritenour about the vanilla-colored blanket covering Ava Ritenour when her body was found. On Friday, Alicia Ritenour said in her testimony that Logan Cavan was on the floor covered with a vanilla-colored blanket that belonged to Alicia’s grandparents before driving Parker to school. When Alicia Ritenour returned to the apartment, she said Cavan was now on the couch covered with a pink blanket.

Krisko said Alicia Ritenour never mentioned Cavan using a different blanket in her three interviews with the authorities.

“I have a bad memory. I’m really trying here,” Alicia Ritenour said.

Ultimately, the Jury believed Ritenour was guilty, and that the Defense’s argument that there was suspicion surrounding Cavan wasn’t credible.