Olivia Gant.
A Colorado mother has reached a plea agreement after being charged with murdering her young daughter,who she falsely claimed was severely ill.
Kelly Renee Turner, 43, pleaded guilty Monday to felony theft, felony charitable fraud, and child abuse negligently causing death, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office for the 18th Judicial District tells PEOPLE.
Turner had previously been charged with first-degree murder, attempt to influence a public servant and second-degree forgery, court records showed. She hadpleaded not guilty.
The other charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, the D.A.’s office spokesperson said.
She is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on Feb. 9 at 1:30 p.m.
The charges came after Turner’s daughter, 7-year-old Olivia Gant, who became known as “Batgirl” after she dressed up for a Make-A-Wish event, died in 2017 of what Turner claimed was intestinal failure.
Olivia Gant and Kelly Turner.Go Fund Me; Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
Starting in 2012, Turner began saying that her daughter was ill. Eventually, she claimed that her daughter had been diagnosed with neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy, which caused her to have intestinal failure.
On a GoFundMe page she launched that raised nearly $23,000, Turner wrote her daughter was born prematurely and suffered from autism, seizure disorder, developmental delays and a tumor, among other health problems.
The two received widespread media attention for Olivia’s"bucket list" of last wishes, including riding in a police patrol car and spraying water on a fire as a firefighter.
TheMake-A-Wish Foundationand DaVita Inc., a Denver-based dialysis company, helped Oliviadress up as “Bat Princess"to save the Disney princesses Bella and Ariel.
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While Olivia’s cause of death came back inconclusive, the indictment alleged that Turner stopped her medical care in the girl’s final weeks, allowing her to die, 9 News reports.
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The indictment shows that several of the girl’s doctors told investigators they did notbelieve Olivia’s medical problems were terminal, according to both news outlets.
CNN reports that Turner allegedly received nearly $600,000 in Medicaid benefits and charitable donations, despite her husband working for a company that should have provided medical insurance to his children.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
