The mother of a 2-year-old girl who died with what investigators described as “toxic” levels of Benadryl in her system was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Leandra Andrade, 38 at the time of her daughter’s death, was discovered unconscious at the Cutty Shark hotel in Virginia Beach, Virginia, detectives said. Her daughter, Lanoix, was found foaming at the mouth and later determined to have a fatal dose of Benadryl in her system, according to WTKR.
Prosecutors said Andrade left the Washington, D.C., area with Lanoix after Lanoix’s father, Fabio Andrade Jr., was granted full legal custody. Trial evidence cited by WAVY states that both parents still had joint physical custody.
Andrade had been charged with aggravated murder and child neglect, with the case set for a judge-only trial before the court accepted her plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, 13 News Now reported. The judge also dismissed a second-degree murder charge, according to the outlet.
Fabio Andrade Jr. criticized the outcome in a statement to 13News Now, saying, “It is a failure of accountability; it strips transparency from the process and denies my daughter the most basic protection the justice system promises that the truth will be tested in open court.”
In text messages prosecutors said Andrade sent to her husband on the night of Lanoix’s death, court documents allege she wrote, “Neither one of us want the future you are manifesting; It will make you cry yourself to sleep at night.” Prosecutors also alleged she resent the message that same night with phrases including “you don’t win,” “It will make you cry yourself to sleep at night,” and “Please believe me” circled, according to the records.
A court-ordered forensic evaluation conducted in 2024 assessed Andrade’s mental state and cited diagnoses including PTSD, major depressive disorder—recurrent and severe with psychotic symptoms—and “an unspecified eating disorder,” according to the stipulation of trial evidence. The evaluating doctor also concluded she met criteria for “Persistent Depressive Disorder, early onset, moderate-severe” and PTSD with dissociative symptoms in the period leading up to her arrest.
Court records also allege Andrade had attempted suicide years before the child’s death.
Andrade is scheduled for a conditional release hearing in March, which will determine whether she is committed to a behavioral health facility, WTKR reported.
“This is probably the saddest case that I’ve ever had,” Andrade’s attorney, James Broccoletti, told WTKR. “There are no winners on either side of this case. We use the word tragedy often, but it doesn’t come close to defining this case.”
