Inset: Allysen Armenta. Background: Allysen Armenta’s newborn baby (KBOI).
An Idaho mother who tried to pass off the suffocation death of her 12-day-old baby as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has pleaded guilty to more serious charges than she initially intended after new information came to light in her case.
Allysen Armenta, 28, was initially scheduled to plead guilty on July 30 for one count of failure to notify and one count of injury to a child. Two other charges, destruction of evidence and resisting arrest, were expected to be dropped as part of a plea deal with the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the Idaho Statesman, Armenta was at her plea hearing explaining why she was guilty of failing to notify authorities of her son’s death when the judge stopped the proceedings and announced that the court would be taking a break. “I’m going to speak with the attorneys, and we’ll come back and we’ll resume in a few minutes, and proceed as we may be able,” the judge reportedly told the courtroom.
A half-hour went by before the judge came back out and said they had encountered a legal issue and would need to reschedule Armenta’s plea hearing for an updated deal.
“A legal issue has come up,” Judge Thomas Witney told the court, according to local CBS affiliate KBOI. “It is necessary to give the attorneys time to conduct more legal research before we move forward.”
On Thursday, Armenta appeared at her rescheduled plea hearing and pleaded guilty to three felony counts: one count of injury to a child and two counts of evidence destruction. The two counts of evidence destruction were Alford pleas, meaning she maintains her innocence but admits there’s enough evidence to convict her.
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Armenta was accused of rolling over on her baby, Benjamin, who was called “Benji,” while they were sleeping. She and the child’s father, Brian Lemke, 32, texted each other after their child’s death instead of immediately calling police, according to court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate KTVB. Both were charged with four felony counts of injury to a child, destruction of evidence, failing to report or delaying reporting a death, and resisting and obstructing law enforcement. They claimed to find Benji unconscious in a bassinet.
At her canceled plea hearing, Armenta was going through the elements of the charges and explaining how she would co-sleep with Benji and she admitted to keeping him in a home that was “unfit for living” for a baby, according to KBOI. She also admitted to having a cellphone that she could have used to alert first responders about Benji’s death right before Judge Witney shut things down.
It’s unclear who directly caused Benji’s death, only that police believe the child suffocated inside the trailer, which was allegedly filled with trash, food, dirt, cigarettes, and animal feces.
Nampa police responded to a 911 call from Lemke on Dec. 16, 2025, around 3:32 a.m., according to a press release posted on Facebook. Police said they went to a property in the 300 block of Lone Star Road and spoke with Lemke at a house where he claimed Benji died, not the “filthy” trailer where he actually died. Armenta was not at the scene.
“After further investigation by detectives, it was determined the infant passed away in a different location and was later moved into the house,” police say in reference to the trailer. “Officers also found the infant’s mother hiding in a camp trailer in the backyard. She was taken into custody without incident on an unrelated out-of-county warrant.”
Lemke was sentenced in late July to spend between six and 15 years in a state correctional facility after pleading guilty to failure to report a death and destruction of evidence.
Court records show that the couple has multiple prior convictions for injuring children in Idaho. They had other kids removed from their home in recent years and placed in foster care, some for hazardous living conditions, KTVB reports.
Armenta is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 3.
The post Mother who tried to pass off suffocated 12-day-old baby in ‘filthy’ trailer as SIDS death admits to more serious charges after new info comes to light first appeared on Law & Crime.
