Trial for mom accused of withholding son’s cancer medicine slated to start next month

SALEM – A Salem woman charged with withholding her autistic son’s cancer medication before his death two years ago is scheduled to go on trial in April.Kristen A. LaBrie, 39, is charged with attempted murder, assault and battery on a child causing injury, assault and battery on a disabled person causing injury and reckless endangerment. The charges accuse her of failing to provide her cancer-stricken son, Jeremy Robert Andre Fraser, treatments that professionals say he needed to remain in remission.Jeremy lived with his father, Eric Fraser, in Saugus, before dying of leukemia on March 30, 2009 at age 9.Judge John T. Lu announced Tuesday during a hearing in Salem Superior Court that the case has been set for an April 4 trial date.Defense lawyer Kevin G. James asked at a hearing earlier this month to have the case moved out of Essex County because of the publicity about the case, but Lu rejected the motion.Assistant District Attorney Kate B. MacDougall maintains that LaBrie neglected to fill some of her son’s prescriptions from Oct. 16, 2006 to March 25, 2008, didn’t take him to at least a dozen doctor’s appointments and engaged in conduct that created substantial risk of serious injury to her son. Jeremy was diagnosed in 2006 with a curable form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The disease went into remission after the boy received chemotherapy and his prognosis was good as long as long as he continued taking medication.But the cancer returned in 2008 and Jeremy died a year later.LaBrie has maintained her innocence.Jeremy was born in Salem and raised in Saugus. His father Eric Fraser died last year from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Malden on Oct. 25. He was age 38.Fraser was not part of his son’s life as his illness progressed, but lived with him during his final days.LaBrie faces up to 40 years in state prison if convicted as charged. She remains free on $15,000 cash bail pending the outcome of her trial.