{"id":284138,"date":"2026-05-08T08:41:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/284138\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T08:41:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:41:17","slug":"third-trial-texas-appeals-court-reverses-murder-conviction-of-marian-fraser-in-baby-claras-daycare-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/284138\/","title":{"rendered":"Third trial? Texas appeals court reverses murder conviction of Marian Fraser in Baby Clara\u2019s daycare death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/kwtx.com\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/kwtx.com\">WACO, Texas (KWTX) \u2014 <\/a> A Texas appeals court has reversed the felony murder conviction of former Waco daycare operator Marian Fraser and sent the case back to the trial court, finding prosecutors relied on evidence taken from her electronic devices under search warrants that were not supported by probable cause.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Fraser, 61, is serving a 50-year prison term after she was convicted a second time in the 2013 Benadryl overdose death of Clara Felton, an infant in her care. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWhile we are disappointed with the Amarillo Court of Appeals\u2019 ruling, we still firmly believe that Fraser\u2019s conviction should be affirmed. For that reason, we look forward to seeking review by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,\u201d said McLennan County District Attorney Josh Tetens. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cShould justice ultimately require it, we will absolutely try Fraser again. The fight for Baby Clara and her family is ongoing and we will continue using every tool the law provides to hold Fraser accountable,\u201d Tetens further said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">In a memorandum opinion on remand issued May 6, 2026, the 7th Texas Court of Appeals in Amarillo said the trial court erred by denying Fraser\u2019s pretrial motion to suppress evidence and text messages seized and searched from electronic devices. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The court said it could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the improperly admitted evidence did not contribute to Fraser\u2019s conviction or punishment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The ruling follows a prior decision from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which upheld the legal sufficiency of the evidence supporting Fraser\u2019s felony murder conviction but sent the case back to the Amarillo court to decide whether the search-warrant error was harmful. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Fraser was convicted a second time in Waco\u2019s 19th District Court in the 2013 death of \u201cBaby Clara,\u201d who prosecutors said died after ingesting diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, while in Fraser\u2019s care. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Fraser ran a successful daycare for more than 20 years. She was called \u201cMimi\u201d by the kids in her care and the \u201cNap Nazi\u201d by some of their parents because of her rigid naptime schedule and restrictive rules for picking kids up early.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">During its closing arguments, the State told the jury Fraser was \u201cin the business of putting kids to sleep, and she was good at it because she used medication.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The State further argued in its closing arguments that Fraser \u201cused medication in those bottles to put those kids to sleep &#8230; Fraser drugged those children to make her life easier because she was lazy.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">In its harm analysis, the Amarillo court pointed to the State\u2019s repeated emphasis on the electronic-device evidence at Fraser\u2019s last trial, including text messages that prosecutors enlarged and displayed for jurors and testimony from Fraser\u2019s daughter about messages and moving medications. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The court said the State used those communications to argue Fraser was trying to hide evidence and show consciousness of guilt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Baby Clara died on March 4, 2013. On March 8, Fraser exchanged text messages with her daughter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">One such exchange, according to court records, was presented to the jury as evidence during Fraser\u2019s second trial: <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">DAUGHTER: The licensing lady was in the driveway when I got home. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">FRASER: What did U tell her [?]<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">DAUGHTER: She\u2019s going to sit out and wait.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">FRASER: Oh that\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">DAUGHTER: Yeah &#8230; in her car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">FRASER: So she\u2019s outside[?] Ok. Do me a favor and the kids [sic] medicine that is in the cabinet in the daycare room go put it in ur closet[.] Thanks. Just in case she looks[.] call me. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">After Baby Clara\u2019s death, a dozen or more parents had their children tested at a Houston lab. Their hair follicles tested positive for diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, but the results of those tests were ruled inadmissible at Fraser\u2019s first trial because the lab has since been decertified and its owner discredited for unrelated reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 KWTX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WACO, Texas (KWTX) \u2014 A Texas appeals court has reversed the felony murder conviction of former Waco daycare&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[104474,27,29,28,104475],"class_list":["post-284138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-marian-fraser","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-waco-daycare-owner-convicted-in-murder-of-baby-clara-fulton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}