Luke receives two guilty verdicts in child endangerment, death case
(ABC 6 News) – On Monday, Feb. 5, a Northern Iowa jury declared Allyssa Luke guilty of two counts of child endangerment — one of which resulted in the death of her son, Abel Luke, in February 2021.
Jury deliberations took just over an hour.
ABC 6 News followed the trial last week, during which law enforcement and doctors described multiple people’s concern over Luke’s twin boys’ malnutrition.
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During closing arguments Monday morning, assistant Iowa Attorney General Michael Ringle told jurors Luke understood what her infant children needed and failed to care for them anyway.
“She’s not feeding the kids, she’s certainly not following Dr. Tran’s schedule, she knows what the schedule is, she knowns how much food the boys need,” Ringle said. “She’s not giving it to them.”
Luke’s defense argued that the Iowa mother had not willfully or intentionally caused Abel Luke’s death, or Brennan Luke’s health concerns.
Defense attorney Richard Tompkins Jr. also spoke about Abel Luke’s official cause of death. In 2021, it was deemed “undetermined.” In 2023, the medical examiner’s office changed the cause of death to “homicide,” Tompkins Jr. said.
He claimed that the state had not laid out the reasoning for the change clearly.
Luke was taken into custody after the verdict. Her sentencing is scheduled for April 8.