COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County woman's murder conviction has been upheld in the 2014 death of her 2-year-old son, according to a Georgia Supreme Court ruling.
Tyrael McFall died in November 2014. An autopsy later revealed the toddler's cause of death was a lethal dose of the painkiller codeine.
According to prosecutors, the toddler's mother, Erica White, gave Tyrael the deadly dose to collect on a $50,000 life insurance policy. Prosecutors also said that the toxic dose of codeine was from pills from a Tylenol prescription that White had received shortly before the toddler's death.
White was also accused of using Tyrael's name and social security number to obtain credit cards, which she used to buy electronics. In April 2015, six months after Tyrael's death, there was a more than $1,500 balance on a card with the toddler's name on it. Numerous bank accounts were also set up in his name.
In 2018, 11Alive previously reported that White was found guilty on 16 charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, two counts of making a false statement, three counts of identity fraud, six counts of financial transaction card fraud, forgery in the second degree, and racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act in connection to Tyrael's death.
According to the State's Supreme Court ruling issued on Thursday, White tried to appeal those charges, "contending that the trial court abused its discretion by denying her motion for new trial on the general grounds; admitting photographs from Tyrael’s autopsy; and denying her motion to sever certain counts in the indictment. "
The State Supreme Court ruled that the trial court did not abuse its power by declining to remove charges relating to fraud following Tyrael's death. White argued that these charges should have been severed, but the state claimed they supported the alleged motive for murdering Tyrael.
However, the Georgia Supreme Court ultimately ruled to uphold White's conviction.
11Alive had also previously reported that Tyrael had been severely disabled since he was eight months old after his father shook and beat him. The two-year-old had frequent seizures and received food and medicine through a feeding tube.
