An American mother who claimed her seven-year-old daughter's death was due to a terminal condition, has now been charged with murdering her.
On Friday (US Time), Colorado woman Kelly Renee Turner was arrested on an array of charges relating to the death of her daughter, Olivia, in 2017, including two counts of murder and one charge of child abuse.
Turner and Olivia were the subjects of immense media attention in 2017 after the mother claimed her daughter suffered from neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy, a rare condition which leads to the degeneration of muscles.
Their community came together to try and raise awareness for the condition, getting Olivia publicity by having her go on a ridealong with Denver police, become an honorary chief for a day as well as a firefighter. A GoFundme account reportedly raised thousands of dollars.
But local Douglas County police say several of Olivia's doctor said they didn't believe her medical issues were terminal, according to the Denver Post.
"There is a concern that [Turner] lied about the children's medical conditions and therefore may have caused harm to the children and or caused them to have significant medical procedures," an indictment said.
"There is also concern that [Turner] has a financial and social motivation for her children's medical conditions, both real and fictitious."
Officers didn't begin investigating the girl's death until Turner claimed her second daughter had been diagnosed with cancer. During that investigation, the mother allegedly brought up Munchausen by proxy syndrome - where a caretaker induces illness in a child for attention.
After exhuming Olivia's body, an autopsy showed there was no evidence the child died from anything related to the condition her mother said she had.
But it's still unclear how the child died and if any of her medical conditions came about naturally or as the result of mistreatment.
Authorities claim Turner persuaded doctors to sign a "do not resuscitate" order, with the mother arguing Olivia was so sick that the humane thing to do was to stop medical care and let her die, reports 9News. That included stopping an IV line which was set up to give the child nutrition.
On top of the abuse charges, Turner allegedly defrauded several charities which helped raise money for the child.
In a statement, Douglas County Sheriff Spurlock said he was proud of his investigative team.
"I am extremely proud and impressed with the determination of all agencies involved, especially my detectives. While it has been an extremely emotional case, they have investigated all aspects of it with diligence and professionalism."
Newshub.
