Unsolved Mysteries: Did Patricia Stallings actually kill her children? Details from the infamous 1989 case, revealed

The lack of a single protein and misdiagnosis from a lab led to a woman in the latest case of Unsolved Mysteries being convicted of the murder of her own child. Patricia Stallings was a resilient woman. Homeless for a lot of her life, she gave up her first kid, born out of wedlock, for adoption. In a much better place in life when her second kid, Ryan Stallings, was born, Patty led a happy life with her husband, David Stallings.

A perfect life with her husband and her kid, Patty thought nothing could go wrong. Well, until her three-month-old son started vomiting profusely. When his condition worsened in the next few days, Patty took him to the hospital. The usual workups ended with the physicians presenting a horrifying truth before Patty and David. A truth that would end with Patty being accused of poisoning her child and would land her convicted and imprisoned.

The question arises on Unsolved Mysteries: Did Patricia Stallings actually poison her child, and if not, then how did the three-month-old child die?

Keep reading to find out everything about one of the biggest unsolved mysteries on Unsolved Mysteries.

What happened to the three-month-old Ryan Stallings on Unsolved Mysteries?

When Patty and David Stallings admitted their three-month-old because he was unable to keep his food down and had become increasingly lethargic, they were completely unaware of the diagnosis that was to be made. The authorities were informed when the lab results returned from Ryan's initial workup. Why? Because the workup revealed traces of poison in Ryan's blood.

Considering Patty's history with her first child, where she was accused of not caring for him enough, the authorities were immediately suspicious of the parents, especially Patty, and they were never allowed to visit their son alone. A few days later, Ryan's condition improved slightly, but the little baby was only allowed a one-hour supervised visit with his parents every week. However, things were about to get much, much worse.

Why was a mother accused of the murder of her own child on Unsolved Mysteries?

For five weeks, Patricia and David visited their child for a total of an hour every week. These visits went without a hitch, and they were supervised the whole time, with Patty never being left alone with her own child. On the sixth visit, while being alone with Ryan for not more than a minute, his parents fed him a bottle of milk because he was a little cranky, after which he started suffering from the same symptoms again.

Tests once again revealed traces of antifreeze in Ryan's blood, and the authorities even discovered a gallon of half-used antifreeze in the Stallings' basement. This evidence, it appeared, was more than enough for them, and Patty was soon arrested after being charged with poisoning her own child. A few days later, Ryan died of his worsening symptoms, and Patty was charged with first-degree murder.

How did Patty's innocence come to light after Ryan's death?

According to Unsolved Mysteries, after Ryan's death, Patty discovered that she was pregnant with her third child. While being charged for her son's death, Patty gave birth to another son, David Stallings Jr. To his parents' dismay, David Stallings was not allowed to take his son home, and instead, he was instantly placed in foster care. These parents, who were leading a seemingly perfect life with their new baby, found their lives unbearable after their children were taken from them.

Turns out, however, being separated from David Stallings Jr. was a blessing in disguise for the parents. Because at two weeks old, David Stalling Jr. started suffering from the same symptoms as his late brother, but Patty had never come in contact with David, so she couldn't be accused of poisoning him as well.

This time around, Unsolved Mysteries reveals that the diagnosis for David Stallings Jr. was different from that of his late brother, Ryan Stallings. The doctors discovered that he suffered from a very rare genetic disorder called MMA, which presented itself as the lack of a single protein.

This single protein was, in fact, responsible for the final step in the breakdown of food items such as milk. Without it, their food was only partially metabolized in the child, leading to their symptoms.

Experts reveal that the presentation of MMA is eerily similar to that of antifreeze in the blood, leading to Patty being accused of murder.

Unsolved Mysteries finally reveals that tests done by renowned doctors later proved that Patricia Stallings did not, in fact, kill her children and was wrongfully accused.

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