Merrick resident Olivia Bithorn, charged with manslaughter in death of 18-month-old son who choked on unpopped popcorn, held on bail

A Merrick mother with an admitted drug and alcohol dependency was held on bail of half a million dollars on Monday in Nassau County Court after she was charged with the death of her 18-month-old son who choked on unpopped popcorn.

Olivia Bithorn, 36, who wept as she appeared in court before State Supreme Court Justice Tammy Robbins, pleaded not guilty last week during her arraignment on charges of manslaughter in the death of her son, Luke Russell Jr., and two counts of child endangerment for drinking while the toddler and his 3-year-old sister were left unattended from April 12 into the next day.

Bithorn, whose married name is Russell, was released on her own recognizance on June 18 with the understanding that she would wear an ankle monitor and be confined to a drug and alcohol treatment facility.

Nassau prosecutor Brian Rodriguez argued Monday she should be held in the East Meadow jail while her case was pending because she was losing the health care coverage that her husband had been providing and could not be trusted to return to court for the case.

Prosecutors said she was drinking heavily the night of April 12 and had fed her son and daughter unpopped popcorn. Photos inside the home show toys and kernels strewn across the floor by a nearly empty bottle of Tito’s vodka, images the district attorney's office provided show.

She told police she had made dinner for the children and then popped popcorn for her daughter before sitting down to watch a movie, according to statements she made to police.

She told investigators she would not give popcorn to her son for safety and nutritional reasons, but that some of it spilled on the floor.

Prosecutors, however, said she had left the children unattended for an hour or more while her son choked on the popcorn.

“Allegedly, she was in the bathroom, possibly getting sick because she had drank so much,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said after the hearing. “She allegedly was intoxicated, gave the children a bag of unpopped popcorn and her son was eating the kernels, and they got stuck and he died.”

The district attorney said what separates a tragic accident from a crime was Bithorn’s negligence.

“It's an accident if you leave the room for a few minutes,” Donnelly said. “But it’s criminal if you actually give your child these kernels to eat and not be present in case something happens, which is exactly what happened here. Your nonpresence, noncare elevates it to a crime.”

Bithorn has a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, leading back to before and during her pregnancy with her son, Rodriguez told the court.

Detectives during an interview with Bithorn the next day said she could barely stand on the night her son died.

Rodriguez detailed several episodes in which the mother of two allegedly put her children’s safety at risk.

In 2023, her husband, who was out with his brother, received a series of text messages from her, which he took to understand that she was intoxicated.

When he rushed home to see what was wrong, she wouldn’t let him in.

“The defendant was drunk and out of control,” Rodriguez said. “The police had to be called.”

When she was seven months pregnant with her son, the prosecutor said, in the summer of 2024, she crashed her car in Astoria while drunk. Relatives found her in the bathroom of a nearby Starbucks, covered in bruises and her daughter soaking wet, according to court testimony.

In February 2025, she crashed her car while drunk in Yonkers, the prosecutor told the court. Bithorn called relatives for help, saying she was in a rehabilitation facility, but when they got there, she was in the lobby of an apartment building.

After she separated from her husband, she stayed with her mother in a senior assisted living facility where the prosecutor said he has evidence that she regularly had alcohol delivered.

Rodriguez also said doorbell camera footage indicates she had alcohol delivered to the Airbnb where she was staying in Merrick 24 hours before her son’s death.

Legal Aid attorney Jenna Suppon did not address the allegations against her client, but she said Bithorn was enrolled in a drug and alcohol facility that would not cut her treatment even without insurance.

Robbins agreed to set bail at $500,000 with a restraining order barring her from contacting her husband or daughter.

Bithorn is due back in court on July 23.