Colorado mum charged with 'terminally ill' daughter's death

Mug shots of Kelly Renee TurnerImage copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Ms Turner was arrested at a hotel near Denver on Friday

A mother in the US state of Colorado who said her daughter had died of a rare terminal illness has been charged with her murder.

Kelly Renee Turner, 41, is accused of causing the death of her seven-year-old daughter, Olivia Gant, in 2017.

Olivia received publicity in the months before her death as she completed items on her “bucket list” of dreams.

Ms Turner is charged with over a dozen criminal counts, including murder, child abuse and charitable fraud.

In July 2017, Ms Turner requested that her daughter’s medical care and artificial feeding be stopped due to her poor quality of life, according to the indictment. Olivia died a few weeks later. The cause of death was attributed to intestinal failure.

But after the exhumation of Olivia’s body last year, an autopsy revealed no evidence of the illness or the other symptoms claimed by Ms Turner. The cause of her death is now listed as undetermined.

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Doctors became suspicious last year when Ms Turner brought her older daughter in with complaints of “bone pain”, prompting the investigation into Olivia’s death.

The investigation revealed a pattern of doctors telling Ms Turner that Olivia did not have a terminal condition and that she should not end medical care.

Ms Turner is accused of soliciting donations, government aid and services from charitable organisations that helped grant dream wishes to her daughter – like becoming a firefighter for a day and throwing a costume party.

source: bbc.com