Kouri Richins’ three sons have all submitted statements to prosecutors asking that their mother be sentenced to life in prison on May 13 after a jury convicted her of murdering their father in 2022

Kouri Richins and family

Kouri and Eric Richins with their three sons.

Kouri Richins’ three sons are asking that their mother be sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted her of murdering their father, Eric Richins, in 2022.

“I’m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family. I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us,” says Kouri’s 13-year-old son C.R. in a sentencing memo filed by prosecutors and obtained by PEOPLE.

C.R. also notes in the memo that he misses his dad, but does not miss “how [his] life used to be” or his mother.

Kouri’s 11-year-old son, A.R., voices similar concerns in his statement.

“I don’t want [my mother] out of jail because I will not feel safe if [she is] out,” A.R. says in the memo. “With [her] in jail, I will be able to continue to feel safe and live a happy and successful life without fear of [her] hurting me or anyone I love.”

 

The youngest of Kouri’s three sons, 9-year-old W.R., says that he is afraid of his mother, who went to jail when he was just 5 years old.

He says that “[i]f she got out I would be so scared” and is “worried that she would take me away.”

W.R. also adds that once his mother “is gone,” it will allow him to “feel happy” and “safer,” and he will be able to “trust people more,” per the memo.

Kouri Richins during a bail hearing on June 12, 2023, in Park City, Utah.

Kouri Richins during a bail hearing on June 12, 2023.Rick Bowmer/AP Photo

All three boys also speak about their father, who died in March 2022 at the age of 39 after prosecutors allege his wife spiked his drink with a lethal dose of fentanyl.

“[M]y dad was a good person and very thoughtful and kind and helped whoever needed help,” C.R. says in the memo.

“[W]hen someone talks about Kouri it makes me feel hateful and ashamed. She took away my dad,” says W.R.

A.R. notes that his father cannot be his “coach anymore and can’t be at any of [his] games,” will never be at one of his birthdays and “can’t teach [him] how to drive.” His father will also not get to see him graduate, he says, adding that he “can’t take [him] camping or fishing.”

Prosecutors also say in the memo that if A.R. had testified at trial, he would have said under oath that his mother did not sleep in his bedroom on the night that his father died, a claim that was an integral part of Kouri’s defense.

A.R. would have also testified that on the night of his father’s death, he and his brothers were sent to bed without being given a bath, which was “unusual,” and that the “television was playing loudly inside his parents’ bedroom.”

Prosecutors also allege that A.R. tried to sneak into his parents’ room that night but was caught and yelled at by his mother.

Later, when W.R. tried to go sleep in his parents’ bed, as was customary, he found the door locked and got in bed with his brother A.R. instead, prosecutors say in the memo.

Richins, 35, will be sentenced on May 13 — the same day her husband would have turned 44 — and is facing the possibility of 25 years to life or life without parole after being convicted of aggravated murder, attempted murder and financial crimes.

She continues to deny having played any role in the death of her husband.