Toddler choked to death on popcorn kernels while drunk Merrick mom passed out, DA says

A Merrick mother wept in Nassau County Court on Monday as a judge set bail at $500,000 following the choking death of her 18-month-old son, according to a report.

The tragedy, prosecutors said in the Newsday report, was made criminal by her total absence when her toddler needed her most.

Olivia Bithorn, 36, pleaded not guilty before Supreme Court Justice Tammy Robbins to charges of manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment in the April 12 death of her boy, Luke Russell Jr.

Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Bithorn gave the children a bag of popcorn kernels before retreating to the bathroom, where she was sick from heavy drinking. She was gone for an hour or more, and the baby swallowed the kernels, which became lodged in his airway, Donnelly said.

Newsday reported that photos taken inside the Merrick Airbnb where the family was staying contradicted Bithorn’s claim that she had served only safely popped popcorn during a movie night.

Raw kernels and toys were scattered across the floor beside a nearly empty bottle of Tito’s vodka, prosecutors noted. Prosecutors also introduced Ring camera footage showing alcohol had been delivered to the rental just 24 hours before Luke’s death, the report says.

“It’s an accident if you leave the room for a few minutes,” Donnelly said. “But it’s criminal if you actually give your child these kernels to eat and not be present in case something happens — which is exactly what happened here.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics lists popcorn as a choking hazard and advises against serving it to children under 4 years old.

A pattern prosecutors say put children at risk

Nassau Assistant District Attorney Brian Rodriguez detailed an escalating history of alcohol abuse that had repeatedly endangered Bithorn’s children.

In 2023, her husband called police after she locked him out of the home while intoxicated with the children inside, the prosecutor said in Newsday’s report. The following summer, while seven months pregnant with Luke, she crashed her car drunk in Astoria; relatives found her in a Starbucks bathroom, bruised and accompanied by her soaking wet daughter, the outlet reported.

She crashed again while drunk in Yonkers in February 2025, and that August went missing in Brooklyn for two to three days before turning up at a Mexican restaurant bar with a broken nose, prosecutors said. After separating from her husband, Bithorn moved into her mother’s senior assisted living facility, where prosecutors said she continued having alcohol delivered regularly.

Luke’s father, Luke Russell Sr., had circulated a missing person flyer on Facebook during what was described in court as one of Bithorn’s disappearances months before Luke Jr.’s death.

The judge sided with prosecutors, setting bail at $500,000 and issuing a restraining order barring Bithorn from any contact with her husband or surviving 3-year-old daughter.

Bithorn is due back in court July 23.

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