Colorado Mother Charged With Murdering Daughter She Claimed Had Terminal Illness

A mother in Colorado, who claimed her daughter was suffering from a terminal illness, was arrested Friday on murder charges.

Kelly Renee Turner, 41, was arrested at a Denver-area hotel and charged with 13 criminal counts of child abuse, theft and charitable fraud in the death of her 7-year-old daughter Olivia Gant in 2017. The arrest comes at the end of nearly year-long investigation by several state and local agencies across Colorado looking into the government aid Turner was receiving to care for her daughter, who she claimed was suffering from a “terminal illness.”

Gant’s story first gained attention in 2017 when she was made an officer for the Denver Police Department and a member of South Metro Fire Rescue for a day. Turner was also receiving aid from charitable groups and Medicare benefits to support her daughter before Gant died in August 2017.

However, authorities began to call Turner into question after she started claiming her 12-year-old daughter was suffering from cancer in October 2018.

“There is a concern that (Turner) has 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 affidavit said. “There is also concern that (Turner) has a financial and social motivation for her children’s medical conditions, both real and fictitious.”

Investigators from several state and county agencies began looking into Turner’s activities and purported illnesses. During the investigation, several inconsistencies began to reportedly emerge about her daughters’ illnesses, even calling into question Gant’s illness. One doctor reportedly told investigators she was not terminally ill and “shocked” when he learned she had died.

Court documents also revealed Turner had withheld medicine and food from her daughter before she died.

Investigators suggested Turner could be suffering from Munchausen syndrome and that could explain her actions with her daughters. Munchausen is a disorder where a parent or a caretaker fakes a child’s illness or symptoms to bring attention to them.

Turner made her first court appearance Monday and is being held without bail.