When we are ill, we go to the doctor’s office because we trust that medical professionals will make us feel better. Generally speaking, doctors are revered in our society, so much so by some that they are often bestowed with a godlike status. But doctors are not gods; they are mortals like the rest of us. All human beings, even doctors, make mistakes. When doctors do err, their mistakes are often harrowing and occasionally harmful.

On September 3, 1989, twenty-four-year-old Patty Stallings rushed her six-month-old son, Ryan, to the hospital as he was vomiting uncontrollably. Despite doctors’ best efforts, he died four days later.

Sympathy for the grieving mother soon turned to outrage as doctors ruled Ryan’s death had been caused by poisoning. Patti Stallings was charged with the murder of her infant son. She was later convicted and sentenced to prison.

Ultimately, however, it was proven that even in the medical field, doctors do not know everything. The death of Ryan Stallings was a murder that never was.

Ryan Stallings

David and Patti Stallings married in 1987 and resided in St. Louis, Missouri. When their first child, Ryan, was born in March 1989, he was diagnosed with chronic gastric distress, AKA chronic stress. On July 9, a panicked Patti first rushed four-month-old Ryan to St. Louis’ Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital; he was vomiting profusely and breathing erratically.

After three days, doctors told the Stallings Ryan had been poisoned but would recover. Traces of unusual chemicals, ethylene glycol and acetone, were in his system; both substances are found in antifreeze. David told doctors he had recently rebuilt the radiator in his car and still had a half gallon of antifreeze in their basement.

David and Patty Stallings

Ryan was released after twelve days in the hospital. Doctors, however, were suspicious. After they contacted the police, the infant was placed in the care of a social worker. David and Patti were allowed only a weekly one-hour visit with Ryan. These visits continued for five weeks without incident, until Patti was briefly left alone with Ryan during a visit on August 30.

Three days later, Ryan suffered another violent vomiting attack. The five-month-old died four days later, on September 7.

Ryan Dies

Patti Stallings was arrested and charged with assault and poisoning Ryan. In addition to denying Patti bail, a judge also denied her requests to view her deceased son and attend his funeral.

While incarcerated, Patti learned she was pregnant.

Pregnant Patty Arrested

On February 27, 1990, Patti gave birth in a hospital prison to a second son, David Jr.

Although David Sr. had not been charged with any crime in connection with Ryan’s death, he was not allowed to take his newborn child home. David Stallings Jr. was placed in foster care and became a ward of the state of Missouri.

David Jr. is Born . . .

When David Jr. turned two weeks old, he began exhibiting symptoms similar to Ryan’s.

The St. Louis Children’s Hospital diagnosed him with Methyomolodic Acidemia (MMA), a rare genetic disorder in which the body produces chemical by-products similar to those in the ethylene glycol found in antifreeze. The compound produced, propionic acid, differs from ethylene glycol by one carbon atom.

MMA is treatable with vitamin B12.

. . . With Similar Symptoms

When he learned of Patti’s arrest, Dr. Stephen Cederbaum, a Medical Geneticist and independent expert on MMA, contacted police, saying it is easy to confuse MMA with multiple poisonings because of the similar symptoms.

Dr. Cederbaum said MMA cases are so rare that most doctors never see such a case. If they did, he says they would likely not recognize the symptoms and suspect poisoning instead.

Dr. Stephen Cederbaum

Medical Geneticist

After hearing the doctor’s contentions, a judge released Patti Stallings from jail, but she was still prohibited from seeing David Jr. as the investigation into Ryan’s death continued.

After concluding another investigation, authorities rejected Dr. Cederbaum’s contentions that Ryan had died from MMA, and concluded that the disorder was not a contributing factor in his death. The state of Missouri proceeded with its prosecution of Patti for the murder of her infant son.

Patti is Released from Prison

At a pre-trial hearing, the prosecution produced four expert witnesses supporting their claims while Patti’s lawyers called no expert witnesses to counter them.

As a result, the judge ruled that none of David Jr’s symptoms, including those he shared with Ryan, could be admitted as evidence in Patti’s trial.

David Jr. and David Sr.

The prosecution focused on the afternoon of August 30, the last time Patti was with Ryan before he became ill.

David testified he left Patti alone in the room with Ryan for no more than forty-five seconds of their twenty-minute visit.

David Testifies

Prosecutor George McElroy disputed the time frame, saying David was gone between three-to-eight minutes during which time Patti fed Ryan a bottle. Afterwards, Ryan developed the earlier symptoms and was re-admitted to the hospital where he was diagnosed with ethylene glycol poisoning.

The state contended Patti had slipped the ethylene glycol into Ryan’s bottle during the feeding when she was alone with him. They concluded by saying they had tested all of the bottles for ethylene glycol, with only one testing positive. The poisoned bottle was the one Patti had identified as the bottle she had used to feed Ryan and the one which she, herself, retrieved from the bag holding all of the bottles.

George McElroy

Prosecutor

David took issue with the prosecution’s claims, saying it was he who pulled the bottle out of the bag to feed Ryan. In so doing, he said he did not see any discoloration on the bottle nor did he smell anything strange.

Patti’s lawyers also disputed the prosecution’s claims that Ryan’s symptoms appeared shortly after Patti was with him; they argued the symptoms did not appear until three-and-a-half days after the visit.

Dr. Cederbaum testified it was highly unlikely that something as diffusible as ethylene glycol would require eighty hours before generating the symptoms. Had Ryan been poisoned with ethylene glycol, he believed the symptoms would have shown earlier.

The state countered that Ryan was taken from the visit by the social worker to a foster parent’s home and, early the next morning, was taken to a second foster home for the weekend. The prosecution further contended the second set of foster parents, not knowing Ryan’s history, may have overlooked symptoms that the first set of foster parents would have recognized.

On March 4, 1991, Patti Stallings was found guilty of the first degree murder of her son Ryan. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Patti Is Convicted

Following the verdict, Patti hired a new attorney. After contacting hundreds of physicians from across the country who were familiar with MMA, he petitioned the court to grant her another trial based on her first lawyer’s failure to present expert MMA testimony. When over one-hundred physicians wrote to the judge, saying Patti should not have been convicted, the judge released her from prison on July 30, 1991, and granted her a new trial.

Dr. Piero Rinaldo, a renowned scientist from Yale University, performed an independent serum test which conclusively showed Ryan Stallings had died from MMA.

On September 20, 1991, St. Louis County prosecutors publicly announced they had erred in prosecuting Patti Stallings for the murder of her son and apologized for doing so. She was exonerated of all charges and prosecutors announced they would not try her again.

Patti Cleared

David and Patti regained custody of David Jr. in October 1991. They sued Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and the labs that incorrectly diagnosed Ryan with ethyl glycol poisoning.

In 1993, they settled a lawsuit in which they were awarded several million dollars.

 

Family Reunited

 

David and Patti later divorced, and sadly, additional tragedies were to come.

The Stallings’ Split

In September 2013, D.J. Stallings (David Jr.) died at age twenty-three.

I could not find the cause of death, but it does not appear that it was MMA.

David Jr. Dies 

David Stallings Sr. remarried and had two more sons and a daughter.

He died on April 30, 2019 at age fifty-seven. His obituary stated he died following a long illness.

 

David Sr. Too

The 1993 TV movie Falsely Accused: Without a Kiss Goodbye  is based on the saga of Patti and David Stallings, named Laurie and Ray Samuels in the film.

The Stallings were portrayed by Lisa Hartman and Christopher Meloni.

 

The Stallings’ Story Hits the Screen 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81221071/ryan-patrick-stallings 

Sources:

• The National Registry of Exonerations
• Newspapers. com
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Unsolved Mysteries
• UPI