A Wichita mother, who was shot by police after killing her 14-year-old son, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of first-degree criminal murder. Kylee Renee Hodges, 43, is scheduled to be sentenced later this summer in the January death of Claude Hodges Jr., a Northwest High School freshman and wrestler whose family said he aspired to be a lawyer when he was older.
The sentencing date has yet to be determined, but it should take place in July, according to Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. According to Kansas sentencing rules, she risks a life sentence with a 25-year parole eligibility period. Police discovered Claude dead in a bedroom soon before 2 a.m. on Jan. 29 from numerous gunshot wounds, including to the chest, after his mother failed to meet with his father for a custody exchange the night before.
Officers went to Hodges’ apartment, 8405 W. Central, around 6:20 p.m. on Jan. 28 to check on the boy’s welfare after his father was unable to reach him by phone. Police entered the apartment after noticing a bullet hole in an exterior apartment wall and discovered Hodges kneeling on the floor with a gun under her chin, sparking a multi-hour standoff that ended when officers shot her after she pointed a gun at SWAT members, according to a probable cause affidavit released by the court.
According to the complaint, relatives and others who knew Hodges told police she was involved in a lengthy custody fight with the teen’s father and had struggled mentally and financially since being fired from her work as a parole officer. Some also claimed Hodges was preoccupied with her kid and that their connection had deteriorated because the youngster wanted to spend more time with his father and new stepmother, but the affidavit does not explain why she killed him.
After being shot by cops, Hodges was hospitalized and needed many surgeries. She was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail roughly two weeks afterward.
The plea comes just days before Hodges’ June 18 preliminary hearing on one count of first-degree premeditated murder, which could have resulted in a 50-year to life sentence. Prosecutors filed an updated charge on Thursday, alleging Hodges killed her kid “while in the commission of, attempt to commit, or flight from an inherently dangerous felony,” namely child abuse.
Source: kansas.com