Four-year-old Jose Antonio Lumbrera was brought to a Garden City, Kansas, hospital emergency room by his mother, Diana Lumbrera, on the evening of May 1, 1990. He was already deceased on arrival. Authorities determined the cause of death to be asphyxia due to smothering.

The prior day Diana had taken Jose Antonio to a physician for convulsions; the doctor found no clear cause and prescribed antibiotics that were never filled. Investigators found a $5,000 life insurance policy had been taken out on Jose Antonio, which prosecutors cited as a motive. The smothering finding prompted scrutiny of Diana Lumbrera’s other children, and authorities linked five other young children of hers who had died in Texas over several years.

Diana Lumbrera was arrested and charged with Jose Antonio’s murder. In October 1990 a Garden City jury convicted her and she was sentenced to life in prison. Did anyone who knew Jose Antonio or the family notice signs of illness or other unusual circumstances before May 1990?