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It Happened to Audrey: A Terrifying Journey From Loving Mom to Accused Baby Killer
Audrey Edmunds was a happily married young mother of two with a baby on the way; the neighborhood soccer mom in a small Wisconsin town providing casual childcare when the unthinkable happened. An infant died in her care at the same time the unknown science of Shaken Baby Syndrome hit the media. Swept up in a media frenzy, Edmunds was accused of killing the child through SBS. She was stripped from her children and husband and sent to prison where she would fight for freedom 13 years before she was finally exonerated after updated science showed her innocence. Audrey was and is an all-American mother from the Heartland who shares her story of hope and redemption in the face of unrelenting odds. Built as the ideal reader's club book, It Happened to Audrey includes questions that challenge all readers to think of the possibilities in today's ever-changing world. Edmunds is ultimately released from prison in the middle of a blizzard and reunited with her now grown children.
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2012
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89 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 11, 2012
a harrowing read...Audrey happens to be a lovely woman who lived in the same small town of my current residence. Her girls had sleepovers at my house and her baby daughter was my little guy's "first girlfriend" My heart aches with loss of freedom Audrey had to endure, the loss of such important childhood securities her daughters missed without their mother and the horrible loss the Beard family faced.
Raises our basic freedoms to a whole new level. Made me embrace my boys in suffocating hugs.
Raises our basic freedoms to a whole new level. Made me embrace my boys in suffocating hugs.
September 18, 2019
A quick read. True life story about what happened to a Wisconsin woman who is wrongfully convicted in a shaken baby syndrome case where the baby has passed. Its a difficult read in that it could happen to anyone. It shows the flaws in our justice system and how difficult the system is to get out of - once you are in it.
Not the best writing - but open and informative. It could have provided a little more of the legal details - to get a better understanding of how the system failed Audrey - but overall it was a good book. Its tragic that she lost out on watching her own children grow up due to the failures of our legal system - and it is also so sad that she lost a good marriage and her father during the course of the trial and her incarceration. Thank goodness for the Innocence Project.
Not the best writing - but open and informative. It could have provided a little more of the legal details - to get a better understanding of how the system failed Audrey - but overall it was a good book. Its tragic that she lost out on watching her own children grow up due to the failures of our legal system - and it is also so sad that she lost a good marriage and her father during the course of the trial and her incarceration. Thank goodness for the Innocence Project.
October 2, 2018
Two tragedies and a triumph
I just could not put this book down. What a strong woman Audrey was to never give up and keep going when everything was against her. I was horrified by this story, that due process and the American justice system failed her so terribly. So many people could have stopped Audrey from being railroaded into a maximum security prison accused of a crime that appears no one committed. Even though the burden rests on the prosecution to prove a case here it was topsy turvy and forced the defendant to try and prove her innocence. She even took the stand and refused to admit to something she never did just to try and gain parole. I am so happy she is finally free thanks to a hard working Innocence Project.
I just could not put this book down. What a strong woman Audrey was to never give up and keep going when everything was against her. I was horrified by this story, that due process and the American justice system failed her so terribly. So many people could have stopped Audrey from being railroaded into a maximum security prison accused of a crime that appears no one committed. Even though the burden rests on the prosecution to prove a case here it was topsy turvy and forced the defendant to try and prove her innocence. She even took the stand and refused to admit to something she never did just to try and gain parole. I am so happy she is finally free thanks to a hard working Innocence Project.
August 13, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read telling the true life story of a babysitter turned accused baby killer. It did a great job of telling her feelings throughout the process and kept me entranced wanting to know what happened next.
January 30, 2019
I found this story amazing as Audrey was my neighbor when she moved to Lakeville. I went to visit her the the prison in Wisconsin. What a story to live through.
March 2, 2019
This is a harrowing tale of a mother who was falsely accused. I've been down that path. Every mother needs to read this. There was no way for her to protect herself as there is no way to protect yourself. If someone wants to accuse you, they have the right to do so while the accused is ripped from their foundation. A good read.
December 23, 2012
Devastating affects of a false accusation of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
I know Audrey. She attended my church and was a neighbor at the time that an infant in her care tragically died. I knew her as a caring and loving mom and Sunday School teacher. We were all shocked and horrified when she was convicted on what certainly seemed to be conflicting medical testimony.
Unbelievably, Audrey spent 11 years wrongflly imprisoned. Eleven years away from her beautiful daughters who largely grew up without a mother. She was finally exonerated through the efforts of the Innocence project.
I, and many other supporters, were there during the hearings that provided new medical testimony that ultimately freed her. It was chilling to hear the same Dr. that had testified against Audrey in her original trial, admit that his original testimony was flawed.
Audrey is now out of prison and advocating for those that have been convicted on other faulty Shaken Baby Syndrom evidence.
This book will give you insight into what Audrey went through. For me, it was a harsh reminder how easily anyone, including the pretty young mother sitting next to you in church, can have their lives shattered in an instant.
I know Audrey. She attended my church and was a neighbor at the time that an infant in her care tragically died. I knew her as a caring and loving mom and Sunday School teacher. We were all shocked and horrified when she was convicted on what certainly seemed to be conflicting medical testimony.
Unbelievably, Audrey spent 11 years wrongflly imprisoned. Eleven years away from her beautiful daughters who largely grew up without a mother. She was finally exonerated through the efforts of the Innocence project.
I, and many other supporters, were there during the hearings that provided new medical testimony that ultimately freed her. It was chilling to hear the same Dr. that had testified against Audrey in her original trial, admit that his original testimony was flawed.
Audrey is now out of prison and advocating for those that have been convicted on other faulty Shaken Baby Syndrom evidence.
This book will give you insight into what Audrey went through. For me, it was a harsh reminder how easily anyone, including the pretty young mother sitting next to you in church, can have their lives shattered in an instant.
February 10, 2013
Edmunds' account of her trial and imprisonment following the death of a child she watched in her home.
Somehow, I managed to know nothing about this trial or the overturned conviction though the story took place in Wisconsin. It was interesting subject matter, and considering she lost 11 years of her childrens' lives, a very sad story.
However, it is poorly written. It's repetitive (we get it you take good care of your body, your girls are precious & beautiful, and you like pretty things and your blonde hair). It's off-putting to me how she comes off condescending of other inmates. The characters are hard to follow (her friends who helped her).
That being said, unlike most poorly written books, I don't feel bad with Edmunds making money off the book sales. She needs and deserves the money. This has a Lifetime movie written all over it.
Somehow, I managed to know nothing about this trial or the overturned conviction though the story took place in Wisconsin. It was interesting subject matter, and considering she lost 11 years of her childrens' lives, a very sad story.
However, it is poorly written. It's repetitive (we get it you take good care of your body, your girls are precious & beautiful, and you like pretty things and your blonde hair). It's off-putting to me how she comes off condescending of other inmates. The characters are hard to follow (her friends who helped her).
That being said, unlike most poorly written books, I don't feel bad with Edmunds making money off the book sales. She needs and deserves the money. This has a Lifetime movie written all over it.
January 4, 2015
It was a quick read and it held my interest. It was written very casually. It did bounce abruptly to tell backstory occasionally but it didn't bother me. I read the book for her story, not for its literary merit.
Her ordeal with the justice system was horrible. It's a shame how evidence was ignored or its interpretation twisted to fit the prosecutor's agenda. Unfortunately the system doesn't work for everyone.
Her ordeal with the justice system was horrible. It's a shame how evidence was ignored or its interpretation twisted to fit the prosecutor's agenda. Unfortunately the system doesn't work for everyone.
March 9, 2013
Scary to think we are guilty until we can prove ourselves innocent. I used to have faith in our justice system, but no more. I had no idea that prison was as rough as Audrey tells it. And I have a suspicion that Audrey may have glossed over the more violent aspects of prison life.
April 28, 2013
Not the best writing: one paragraph is the past, next one is the present with nothing to show a break. I knew some of the story before reading the book because my family went to church with Audrey before she went to jail.
June 28, 2013
Audrey's story is very compelling, but the execution of her story is not very well done. It was not well written, and the extra spaces drove me batty. It pains me to read something that needs to be told and would be so much better if it would have had a better editor.
January 13, 2013
Thanks Nay for this book....I enjoyed it and will pass it on to Hannah
March 10, 2013
Interesting and well written book.
March 16, 2013
This book was disturbing and just made me mad! I felt so sorry for Audrey and her family.
July 26, 2016
This book is such an eye-opener! I learned a lot and cannot believe this is our judicial system! It is so hard to believe!!
August 22, 2014
Poorly written. It felt as if much of the story was left out. Very discombobulated.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews