SUMMIT COUNTY, UTAH: Kouri Darden Richins, the author of ‘Are You With Me?’ has been arrested over accusations of murdering her husband, Eric, who died in 2022. Richins has reportedly been charged with first-degree aggravated murder and three second-degree felony charges of possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.
Around 3.22 am on March 4, 2022, Summit County first responders arrived at a home near 280 Willow Court to find an unresponsive man. “When they arrived, they found Eric on the floor at the foot of his bed,” court documents obtained by KSL TV revealed. “Life-saving measures were attempted, but Eric was declared deceased,” it stated. The documents also mentioned that Eric fell sick after Valentine’s Day dinner and allegedly told a friend that he believed that his wife poisoned him.
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Who is Kouri Darden Richins?
Richins is a 33-year-old mother from Utah and the author of ‘Are You With Me?' a book she wrote after unexpectedly losing her husband in 2022. As per Eric’s obituary, Richins and he were married for nine years and shared three children together. She wrote the book while processing her loss and told that it helped the family deal with their “rollercoaster of grief," as per KPCW
Richins said that she never expected to raise her three sons on her own before her husband died in March 2022. She said that she failed to find a way to help the family cope with their grief before deciding to write a book. “It's been a long, long year and difficult year. Writing this book has brought a little peace to me, to me and my boys,” she told the publication. While the author had no background in writing, Richins said she relied on her motherly instincts to write.
“I'm not a previous author. I am not a child psychologist. I'm not a counselor, right? Like, I am a mom of three kids. And I can only write about what I know and what we're going through,” she shared at the time. Richins also said that the book helped all of them deal with loss while keeping them busy and taught her children about compassion and empathy. She also mentioned that she is hopeful it can also help other families facing a similar situation.
The author previously shared she was working on different variations of the first book where the protagonist is a girl who has lost her mother and a child who has lost a sibling. Richins’ second book titled, ‘Mom, How Far Away is Heaven?’ was scheduled to be published by this month but it is not known if it will be released amid her arrest.
What are the allegations against Kouri Darden Richins?
In the wake of her husband’s death, Richins told the police that she and Eric were celebrating the closing of a house for her business before heading to bed. She said she made a Moscow Mule for Eric and he drank it. Court documents say Richins left the bedroom to tend to one of their children and ended up sleeping in the child’s room. “(Kouri) said she awoke around 3 a.m. and came back to her and Eric’s bedroom. She felt Eric, and he was cold to the touch. That is when the defendant called 911,” the documents revealed as per KSL TV.
Richins told authorities that she left her phone in their bedroom but records show that the device was active while she claimed to be in the child’s bedroom. “In addition, tolls on the defendant’s phone show that messages were sent and received during that time. These messages were deleted,” the documents alleged. An autopsy report later revealed Eric died from a fentanyl overdose. The medical examiner reportedly said that the fentanyl was “illicit” and did not have a medical grade. The report showed that Eric orally took the fentanyl approximately five times the lethal dosage.
Police then obtained a search warrant for Richins’ phone and computers, which revealed several communications with an acquaintance. Cops later found out that the acquaintance had multiple counts of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and other drug-related charges. On May 2, 2023, investigators from Summit County interviewed the acquaintance and the latter said that Richins asked for “prescription pain medication for an investor” sometime between December 2021 and February 2022. Legal documents showed that Richins also received the medication during the same time frame.
“(Kouri) told (the acquaintance) to leave the pills at a house defendant was flipping in Midway, Utah. (The acquaintance) left the pills at the house, and the defendant left cash for them,” the documents stated. The acquaintance claimed Richins allegedly contacted them two weeks later and said that her investor wanted “something stronger” and asked for “some of the Michael Jackson stuff,” specifically fentanyl. In February 2022, the acquaintance reportedly contacted a dealer in Ogden, Utah, and got 15 to 30 fentanyl pills. Richins visited the acquaintance’s residence in Summit County and paid them $900.
Nearly two weeks later Richins contacted her acquaintance once again and received another round of fentanyl pills for $900. “The defendant told (the acquaintance) to leave the pills at the outdoor fire pit of the Midway, Utah house where there was cash waiting for her,” stated court documents. A few days after the last exchange, Eric died of fentanyl overdose and Richins now stands accused of his murder.