A Washington State woman was accused of killing her former partner and kidnapping their children. She requested to visit her young children.
During a hearing in Franklin County Superior Court, Chiloe Chervenell, 49, pleaded not guilty after being charged with second-degree murder of her previous partner and her children’s other parent, Kathleen “Kathy” Chervenell-Brinson, 54, According to Tri-Cities Herald.
Chervenell was also charged for second-degree kidnapping. She allegedly violated a court order and took her children and fled to Oregon. According to local media,
Four months before her death in April, Chervenell-Brinson, a teacher, successfully convinced a judge that she and her kids were in danger due to her then-partner’s alleged destructive lifestyle, according to the Herald.
Chervenell, according to the protection order petition, sold drugs and allowed sex offenders, addicts and fugitives hide in their home. According to The Yakima Herald. According to the outlet, Chervenell-Brinson was then issued a no contact order against Chervenell-Brinson, who is now 49 years old.
According to OxygenChervenell was temporarily in recovery during which time she got back to work. Chiloe’s Corner 12-Step Cafe in Kennewick, Washington State, a cafe catered towards people in recovery.
The restaurant eventually closed less than a full year later, in September 2018. According to a Facebook posting from the restaurant.
Chervenell-Brinson said that Chervenell then relapsed in her addiction, during which time she was involved in four car accidents within the last year, Oxygen reported. Chervenell was also accused of neglecting their young children.
Chervenell was also accused of taking the children along with her new girlfriend during a February drug deal. When Chervenell-Brinson confronted Chervenell about this alleged situation, Chervenell allegedly grabbed her by the throat and screamed at her, according to the outlet.
“She made many threats against me, but the one that stood out the most is, ‘I will kill you if you ever say that again,’”Chervenell Brinson wrote the petition. “She would kill me. She had almost done that many years before.”
Chervenell-Brinson was referring to a situation about seven years earlier, when Brinson strangled her to the point of unconsciousness, according to Oxygen.
“I remember distinctly feeling at peace, warm and light,” the petition about the previous incident read. “I came to with her standing over me, yelling at me to stop faking it.”
Court records said that the physical abuse ended when a roommate heard and threatened to stop giving Chervenell-Brinson money, according to the outlet.
Chervenell-Brinson reportedly alleged that the emotional abuse continued throughout their 10-year relationship. “Chiloe has always used my commitment to our children as a means to control me,” she wrote in the petition.
“And if I crossed the line, she would always threaten to take them away from me, keep me from seeing them,”She wrote.
Chervenell-Brinson referred to her previous partner a good person “when those addiction demons are not on her back,” Oxygen reported. Chervenell, and her children, were at high risk. She said Chervenell required professional help. “every single day.”
According to Yakima Herald: Chervenell Brinson claimed that she hoped Chervenell would be unable to see her children, which would force Chervenell to work to become sober.
Shelley Ajax, the public defense attorney assigned to Chervenell’s case, said a dependency judge granted the no contact order, and the 7-year-old and 9-year-old children were under the late parent’s care and protection.
This order stated that Chervenell was not to be within 300-feet of the couples’ home in Mesa. She was, however, allowed to visit the children twice a week, either via video or with the supervision of an appointed party, according to the Yakima Herald and Oxygen.
However, Chervenell allegedly went to the home in Mesa, Washington State sometime between Aug. 3 and Aug. 4, authorities said.
Court records show that Chervenell allegedly sent a text message to a friend telling her that she was pregnant. “didn’t know the power of her hands and killed her wife.”
On the evening of August 4, a friend alerted police to this text. Chervenell-Brinson had not been heard from since the morning of the previous day at 10 a.m.
According to the Yakima Herald, Chervenell-Brinson was found by deputies at her home. He had apparently not been aware of any previous events. The outlet reports that the brother received a message from ChervenellBrinson’s cell phone. According to the outlet it was written in a manner that was not typical.
According to the outlet, an investigator called Chervenell-Brinson’s phone, but no one answered. When he received a call back, he put the phone on speaker and the woman on the opposite end claimed to be Chervenell-Brinson, but Chervenell’s brother said, “That is my sister,”According to officials
By tracking the Chervenell-Brinson’s cellphone, local deputies in Oregon said they found that Chervenell had allegedly stolen her late partner’s Chevy Equinox, where her and the two children were found asleep on the side of the road, according to a press release from the Franklin County Sherriff’s Department.
Chervenell was taken into custody and the children placed in child protective custody According to KEPTV, a local station.
While authorities were tracking Chervenell-Brinson’s phone, another officer discovered Chervenell-Brinson’s body under a pile of bicycles and other junk on the porch of the home, officials said. She had been strangled and killed.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Chervenell asked a judge to be allowed to talk with her children, saying she was worried about them, according to the local outlet.
“These are her biological children,” Ajax said at Tuesday’s hearing, arguing that Chervenell has a right to see them, the local outlet reported. Daniel Stovern (Franklin County Deputy Public Prosecutor) stated that she would not allow her to see the children until investigators have had a chance to interview them this week.
“We don’t know if they witnessed the murder,”He stated. “We don’t want any manipulation of the witnesses.”
Judge Norma Rodriguez said she did not feel comfortable letting Chervenell talk to the children before the investigators’ interview, and Rodriguez approved a no-contact order for a week.
She has scheduled an additional hearing for next week to reconsider Chervenell’s request to see her kids.
Chervenell’s trial has been set for Oct. 12. She is being held at the Franklin County Jail on a $2 million bail.