RICHY WILLIS BROWN - 15 months - Torrance County NM

Diana Willis, the mother of 15 month old Richy Willis Brown, may not be tried for the toddler’s death.


The boy died from being left in the cold, naked, and alone in a field near a highway in Torrance County in September of 2008.
A few days before searchers found the body, his mother walked into a
Department of Transportation yard near Encino, also naked and
disoriented.

She told police spiders were biting her and her
son so they got naked and laid down to look at the stars, but she
didn't know where her son was.

Willis was charged with child abuse resulting in death. A relative came up with $200 thousand to get her out of jail.

She's undergone mental evaluations and been deemed competent to stand trial, but that trial may never happen.

There is a news conference set for Wednesday to discuss the charges against the 27-year-old.

A relaible source indicates that they could be dropped.

The Torrance County District Attorney’s office prosecutor handling the case wouldn't confirm that.

Reportedly Willis is now working at the Burger King at Louisiana and Lomas.
She'd been living at a hotel next door, but recently checked out.
Attempts to get a hold of Diana Willis' attorney to ask about the charges were not fruitful.

Charges have been dropped against a woman who had been charged with abandoning her 15-month-old child in the grasslands of Torrance County two and a half years ago.

Diana Willis was driving through New Mexico from California in September of 2007 when she said she felt she was running from spiders.

She said that in order to protect her son, Richie Willis Brown, she left her car, removed her clothes and the two ran into a field to gaze at stars.

Willis went to sleep and when she woke up Richie was missing. Willis ran naked into the town of Encino to summon help.

After a prolonged search, the toddler was found dead of hypothermia in a field south of Estancia. Willis was charged with child abandonment resulting in death.

District Attorney Clint Wellborn on Wednesday announced that all charges are being dropped against Willis after psychological evaluations conducted by separate doctors hired by the prosecution and defense both concluded that she had been suffering from an episode of paranoid schizophrenia when the incident occurred.

Wellborn said there would be no point in pursuing the charges since Willis’ attorney would argue that she was not guilty by reason of insanity.

Willis has been out of jail and working at an Albuquerque restaurant. With the charges dismissed, Willis is now free to leave the state.

Wellborn says that Willis has been receiving psychological treatment for her condition.