Couple charged in teen's alcohol death

EVANSTON, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming man and woman are charged with involuntary manslaughter after authorities say they tried to teach the woman’s 16-year-old son a lesson by encouraging him to drink and he died of alcohol poisoning.

Joseph M. Richardson and Paulette L. Richardson, from the town of Urie in southwestern Wyoming, are charged in Kendal Balls’ July 7 death.

According to court documents, the couple told sheriff’s deputies they “wanted to teach him a lesson,” and let Balls drink enough to get sick. They said for the past three years, the teenager had expressed a desire to drink.

An autopsy found the boy’s blood-alcohol level was 0.587 percent — more than seven times the legal limit for drivers, the Uinta County Herald reported.