Baby Lisa Irwin Missing: Parents Now Represented by High-Profile Attorney as Mother's Story Changes
The parents of missing 10-month-old Lisa Irwin has now engaged the services of high-profile New York attorney Joe Tacopina, even as Lisa's mother admits to being drunk the night her child disappeared.
According to the Kansas City Star, famed attorney Joe Tacopina, who has been involved in such cases as the disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway as well as the case of Abner Louima, who was tortured in a New York City police precinct restroom, is now representing the parents of little Lisa Irwin.
Tacopina, a former New York City prosecutor, told reporters Monday that his clients were innocent and would cooperate with authorities.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Tacopina has entered the picture, as new information is revealed by the parents in an interview with NBC News on Monday.
Deborah Bradley, the mother of the missing girl, has admitted to being drunk on the night her daughter was allegedly last seen.
Bradley said she concealed the information from investigators because of a fear of possibly being arrested, due to the manner in which investigators have been treating her.
Last week, Bradley told the Associated Press that police had accused her of being involved in her daughter's disappearance:
"From the start when they've questioned me, once I couldn't fill in gaps, it turned into 'You did it, you did it.' "
In an interview with ABC News, Ashley Irwin, the aunt of the little girl, also accused police of spending more time focusing on the family, in particular Bradley, than on finding viable suspects.
"It's what the police do," Irwin said. "They don't have any leads, so they just have to pin it on somebody."
Bradley expressed fear that her arrest might stop investigators from searching for her daughter:
"The main fear is that if they arrest me, people are going to stop looking, and I’ll never see her again, and I’ll never know what happened."
Surveillance video from a local market on the day of Lisa's disappearance showed Bradley purchasing boxed wine as well as baby supplies.
Bradley admitted to drinking to the point of becoming "drunk" by 5 p.m. that night, which led to speculation of whether she could have harmed her own child while being under the influence of alcohol.
"No, no, no," she said. "If I thought there was a chance, I'd say it. I don't think that alcohol changes a person enough to do something like that."
Bradley has also changed her story about when she last saw baby Lisa, which was at 6:40 p.m. on the night of her disappearance, nearly four hours earlier than the time of 10:30 p.m. which she originally told police.
