A Camden County assistant prosecutor told a judge in Superior Court on Tuesday that the woman sitting before him at a detention hearing, fighting back tears in her jail jumpsuit, suffocated her toddler by holding a cleansing wipe over his nose and mouth a year ago because she felt the 17-month-old boy was getting in the way of her extramarital affair.

“This was an absolutely brutal murder and a helpless victim,” Assistant Prosecutor Peter Gallagher said. As he went on to describe how the method of killing required a level of “commitment” because of the time it would take, Heather Reynolds, 41, sobbed into her shackled hands.

Her attorney, Michael Testa, Sr., said she does struggle with addiction but is innocent of the murder and child endangerment against her in the death of her son, Axel Reynolds, on May 10, 2018.

“She adamantly denies that she has anything to do with the death of her child,” Testa said.

Judge Edward McBride at the detention hearing ordered Reynolds to be held pending trial, noting she faces a possible sentence of life in prison.

While it took a year for the prosecutor’s office to charge Reynolds, she was a suspect from the start, according to Gallagher. Reynolds was charged earlier this month.

Police and EMTs were called to Marcia Court in Gloucester Township on the morning of May 10 because Reynolds was holding her lifeless son in her arms, screaming for her neighbors to call for help, according to police reports.

He had bruises around his mouth and nose, but she told EMTs he smelled like rubbing alcohol and said maybe he drank something poisonous, Gallagher said. She also said she had fed him around 6 a.m., but changed her story when an EMT told her that her son had clearly been dead for much longer, the assistant prosecutor said.

Another EMT said the death seemed suspicious, he said. “Although no one had accused the defendant of any wrongdoing, she blurted out, ‘It’s not suspicious. I didn’t do anything wrong,’” Gallagher said.

Witnesses told police Reynolds had used methamphetamine the previous night and into the early morning, which was supported by residue found in a bag in her purse, he said.

Her cell phone was nonfunctional because it was wet, Gallagher said, but police were still able to get text messages between Reynolds and the man with whom she was having an extramarital affair while her husband was working out of state.

“A review of the text messages between the defendant and her boyfriend from the previous night reveal that the defendant was becoming frustrated by the boyfriend’s apparent lack of interest,” Gallagher said. “And witnesses also told detectives that the defendant had expressed the sentiment that her toddler son, the victim A.R., was an obstacle to her relationship with her boyfriend.”

Loved ones gathered to remember Axel Reynolds and call for justice on what would have been his second birthday Dec. 17, 2018.

That boyfriend had spent the night, Reynolds told police, but left before she carried her son outside that morning.

The final piece fell into place for investigators, he said, when blood tests showed trace levels of isopropyl alcohol, often used in detergents and antiseptics, and acetone in Axel’s body. Gallagher said Medical Examiner Gerald Feigin on June 7 ruled the death a homicide by asphyxia caused when “a wipe containing isopropyl alcohol and detergent was placed over the mouth and nose.”

A grand jury indicted her June 13 after hearing the evidence.

Gallagher argued Reynolds should be jailed pending trial partly because she is a risk to others based on the alleged crime and her continued use of meth, which he said is “linked to aggressive and violent behavior.”

She was arrested for possession shortly before Axel’s death and again in February, he said.

Testa told McBride that there was no reason to hold his client because she had turned herself in willingly and has no previous criminal convictions. He said she has a master’s degree in social work and has done that work “for most of her life.”

“She’s suffered greatly as a result of this,” Testa said, noting that her husband, Joseph Reynolds, died Nov. 5.

He noted she had family support in the courtroom and wants to get medical help for her addiction.

Loved ones of Axel held a vigil for him in December, on what would have been his second birthday. Reynolds told NJ Advance Media at the vigil that her lawyer advised her not to say anything about how her son died, but that she hoped the person responsible would be charged.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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