A MUM allegedly tried to gas her three children to death in a car before pulling out at the last moment in a botched murder-suicide plot.
Chardonnay Marie Benavidez, 32, is also accused of tricking the youngsters into thinking they were having a sleepover inside the family vehicle.
Chardonnay Marie Benavidez, 32, allegedly lured her kids into a ‘sleepover’ before trying to kill them and herself Credit: KATU News
Police found the three children alive at the Keizer, Oregon, home Credit: KATU News
The Oregon parent was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder for the alleged plot involving her two-year-old twins and four-year-old child.
She allegedly got cold feet during the attempted murder-suicide – calling 911 and telling cops she and the kids were coming in and out of consciousness.
The three youngsters were found in the living room of their home in Keizer following the call at 8:20pm local time on Saturday.
They had allegedly been conned into going inside the family car before it was filled with carbon monoxide.
A tube connecting the exhaust pipe to the interior of the vehicle was found in the property, police said.
The kids were rushed to the Salem Hospital Emergency Department and cleared on Sunday.
Benavidez’s ex-husband, Antonio, told KOIN that she “was such a great f******g mother,” and that police initially wouldn’t let him into the hospital.
He said: “I went to the hospital. They wouldn’t let me in.
“They wouldn’t give me no information.
“I ended up getting detained because I was like: ‘Dude those are my kids back there I’m f*****g going in.'”
Her former partner also claimed she had tried to harm herself before, but said he was surprised that she allegedly tried to bring her own kids into the plot.
Benavidez reportedly told emergency services she had planned the murder-suicide for a week.
She is understood to have told them she had been deciding on what method to use before allegedly settling on carbon monoxide.
A gun was also recovered from the mum’s vehicle, police said.
Prosecutors said: “The defendant told law enforcement that she had been planning this, researching it, for about a week.
“Prior to doing this, there were multiple options she was considering and landed on this option as one where they would all just fall asleep together.
“This case came to law enforcement when she called 911 to report that she had put herself and her three children in a vehicle with the exhaust on.”
Benavidez was placed on physician’s hold and examined by psychiatric staff.
She was arrested shortly after and taken to Marion County Correctional Facility.
The mum is due in court again on Wednesday.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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