Anna Maria Angelosanto is accused of killing 21-year-old Alexandra Straccia, who depended on her mother for continuous care.

CRANSTON, R.I. — Prosecutors have outlined new evidence against a Rhode Island woman accused of killing her 21-year-old daughter, telling a judge that the mother canceled scheduled caregivers, turned relatives away and conducted internet searches involving prescription overdoses before the young woman was found dead inside their apartment.

Anna Maria Angelosanto, 62, is charged with domestic violence first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Alexandra “Aly” Straccia. Police said Straccia had severe autism and was entirely dependent on her mother for around-the-clock care. Angelosanto was ordered held without bail during an Aug. 11 court appearance after prosecutors described evidence gathered from the Kingwood Avenue apartment and from electronic devices. The allegations remain to be tested in court, and authorities have not publicly announced a final medical cause of Straccia’s death.

Special Assistant Attorney General Alison Bittl told the court that the events under investigation began to take shape several days before police entered the apartment. Prosecutors said Angelosanto canceled appointments with Straccia’s caregivers that had been scheduled for Monday, July 27. Relatives who tried to visit during the preceding weekend were told that Straccia was sleeping, according to the account presented in court. Those details became part of the state’s effort to establish what happened before officers arrived.

Police did not initially respond to the apartment because of a reported assault or a missing-person complaint. Instead, the landlord contacted authorities on the morning of July 27 about a water emergency at the property. Officers went to the first-floor residence on Kingwood Avenue shortly after 8:30 a.m. and entered the home. A neighbor and relatives were also at the property that morning, according to court records described in later reporting. What officers encountered quickly turned the routine property call into a death investigation.

Authorities said Angelosanto was found in a bedroom with apparent self-inflicted injuries. Emergency personnel treated her at the scene and transported her to Rhode Island Hospital. During a sweep of the apartment, officers entered a separate bedroom and found Straccia dead. Court records indicated that investigators believed she had been dead for a period of time, although police did not announce an exact time of death. The Rhode Island Office of the State Medical Examiner took custody of Straccia’s body.

Investigators then obtained judicial authorization to search the residence. Police initially disclosed that detectives recovered a handwritten note along with prescription and over-the-counter medications. At Angelosanto’s later court appearance, prosecutors described a broader collection of evidence, including bags containing pills, electronic devices and other objects taken from the apartment. The presence of medications alone does not establish how Straccia died, and authorities have not publicly released toxicology findings or a final medical examiner’s determination explaining the mechanism of death.

The prosecution also told the court that detectives examined Angelosanto’s computer and found searches concerning prescription overdoses. Bittl said investigators recovered what prosecutors characterized as a suicide note containing language that Angelosanto and her daughter would “be together,” along with instructions concerning burial wishes. Prosecutors are relying on those details as part of their allegation that Straccia’s death was intentional. The contents of the note and the computer activity have not yet been weighed at trial, and Angelosanto has not been convicted of the murder charge.

Straccia’s dependence on others is central to another part of the state’s account. Police said she required continuous assistance from her mother, while prosecutors told the court that Straccia could not administer her own prescribed medication. That distinction could become important as investigators seek to establish how medications found in the apartment relate, if at all, to her death. Prosecutors said Straccia appeared to have expelled an unidentified substance before she died. Authorities have not publicly identified that substance or announced laboratory results tying a particular medication to the death.

The case also presents investigators with a sharp contrast between the relationship described publicly before Straccia’s death and the allegation now before the court. Reporting based on Angelosanto’s earlier social media posts described a mother who had written about advocating for her daughter’s needs and seeking appropriate education, care and support. Court-related reporting also indicated that the household had faced financial difficulties and possible eviction. Those circumstances provide background to the family’s situation but do not, on their own, establish a motive for homicide. Prosecutors have not publicly identified a single motive that has been proven.

Cranston Police Chief Michael Winquist said detectives developed probable cause during their investigation to believe Angelosanto intentionally caused Straccia’s death and then tried to take her own life. Police said the department consulted with the Rhode Island attorney general’s office before obtaining a warrant charging Angelosanto with first-degree murder under the state’s domestic-violence framework. The charge reflects the prosecution’s legal allegation; it is not a finding of guilt.

Angelosanto remained hospitalized after officers discovered her on July 27. During that period, detectives interviewed relatives and also spoke with Angelosanto, according to police. After she was released from the hospital in early August, authorities took her into custody on the murder warrant. She was initially arraigned and ordered held without bail before being brought to the state correctional system’s women’s intake facility.

Her Aug. 11 appearance gave the public its most detailed account so far of the prosecution’s evidence. A Rhode Island District Court magistrate again ordered Angelosanto held without bail and referred her to a public defender. The hearing did not determine whether the prosecution’s allegations were true. It established her custody status while the criminal case continued and allowed prosecutors to describe the evidence they said supported the first-degree murder accusation.

One of the largest unanswered questions remains the precise cause of Straccia’s death. Early police statements did not identify an obvious fatal injury, and later court reporting focused heavily on medications, computer searches and the handwritten note. Until the medical examiner’s findings and any related toxicology evidence are publicly disclosed or introduced in court, the exact means by which prosecutors allege Straccia was killed remains unresolved in the public record.

Police officials have described the case as deeply painful for Straccia’s relatives, neighbors and investigators. Residents interviewed after the arrest said the family had been known in the neighborhood and expressed shock at the allegation. Such reactions do not provide evidence about the criminal charge, but they illustrate how little of the investigation was publicly understood before police announced Angelosanto’s arrest.

As of the latest verified court reporting, Angelosanto remains accused of first-degree murder and has been ordered held without bail. No later disposition of the charge was located, and authorities have not publicly released a final cause of Straccia’s death. The prosecution will have to prove its allegations through the court process, including its claim that the death was intentional.

Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.