Trial for Norman mother charged under 'Failure to Protect' begins Wednesday

Reese Gorman, The Norman Transcript, Okla.
·2 min read

Oct. 26—Correction: A previous version of this story said Austin Vance with Whitten Burrage was Hogue's lead attorney. While he is a member of the legal team, Hogue's lead attorney is Andrew Casey with Foshee and Yaffe.

A trial for Rebecca Hogue, a mother charged with murder after her infant son died under her former boyfriend's care, is expected to begin Wednesday in Cleveland County District Court.

Hogue is charged with first-degree murder through enabling child abuse in the death of her 2-year-old son Jeremiah "Ryder" Johnson. Her son died in the care of her then-boyfriend Christopher Trent on New Year's Day 2020. Trent hanged himself three days later.

Jury selection in Hogue's trial began Monday; the trial is expected to begin Wednesday in Cleveland County District Judge Michael Tupper's courtroom. Hogue is represented by Oklahoma City-based defense attorney Andrew Casey with Foshee and Yaffe law firm, who is representing her pro-bono.

After working the night shift at Riverwind Casino and returning home at 4 a.m. New Year's Day 2020, Hogue checked in on her son, who she said appeared to be sleeping peacefully in his crib. Hogue told investigators she then went to bed, and when she woke up, Johnson wasn't breathing. Trent was gone, and while Hogue called 911, Johnson was already dead.

Trent was named the sole suspect in Johnson's murder, but killed himself before he could be arrested or charged.

In July 2020, Hogue was arrested and indicted by a multi-county grand jury on charges of first-degree murder under the state's "Failure to Protect" law, which allows a parent, guardian or caregiver to face the same punishment as the abuser. According to a 2020 analysis by The Transcript, Hogue was the first woman in five years to be charged under this statute in Cleveland County.

Lead investigators with the Norman Police Department expressed heavy skepticism and said they disagreed with the first-degree murder charge, a recorded conversation obtained by The Transcript last year showed.

In the recording, NPD Detective Sean Judy said investigators told the Cleveland County District Attorney's office they could submit an enabling charge, but not a murder charge. The DA's office declined to accept the enabling charge, Judy said in the recording.

"[The assistant district attorneys] said, 'Well, we're not going to do that. If you send [an enabling charge], then you torpedo our chances of getting a murder charge,'" Judy said in the recording.

In an August 2020 preliminary hearing, Cleveland County District Judge Scott Brockman binded Hogue over for trial.

Hogue was released on bail in November 2020 after it was lowered from $1 million to $150,000.

Reese Gorman covers politics and COVID-19 for The Transcript; reach him at rgorman@normantranscript.com or @reeseg_3.