Dixon mom gets 2 years’ probation in son’s intoxication death

DIXON – A 50-year-old Dixon woman will serve 2 years of probation in the intoxication death of her 15-year-old son.

If she successfully completes the terms of her probation, the case will be dismissed.

Kelli Riggen was indicted Oct. 16 in Lee County Court on six counts: two felony and two misdemeanor charges of endangering the life or health of a child, and felony and misdemeanor reckless conduct.

On May 22, Dixon police responded to 514 W. Sixth St. after receiving a 911 call from Riggen, reporting that her son Riley Riggen wasn’t breathing.

The boy was taken to KSB Hospital and then transferred to Javon Bea Hospital in Rockford, where he died.

According to investigators and court records, Riley was “left outside, unattended, while intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness.”

As a result of a plea agreement, all but the two misdemeanor endangerment charges were merged; Riggen pleaded guilty to the one charge and was sentenced Sept. 23. The other misdemeanor charge was dismissed.

Charges can be merged when a person commits a single act that simultaneously fulfills the definition of two separate offenses. Essentially, by leaving her son outside while he was in the state he was in, Riggen was accused in all the charges of either knowingly allowing or simply allowing him to be in circumstances that lead to his death.

Riley was a sophomore and a wrestler for Dixon High School. His family allowed his organs to be donated.