Case moves forward against mom accused of killing child

A friend of Kelly Turner traveled to the courtroom from Texas

Posted 11/1/19

The Highlands Ranch woman who was recently charged with the murder of her daughter more than two years after the girl's death appeared in a Douglas County courtroom Nov. 1 as a judge heard …

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Case moves forward against mom accused of killing child

A friend of Kelly Turner traveled to the courtroom from Texas

Posted

The Highlands Ranch woman who was recently charged with the murder of her daughter more than two years after the girl's death appeared in a Douglas County courtroom Nov. 1 as a judge heard preliminary motions.

Kelly Turner, 41, was arrested Oct. 18 after a grand jury returned a 13-count indictment on charges that include murder, child abuse, theft and forgery.

The indictment said Turner convinced doctors to stop treating her 7-year-old daughter, Olivia, whom Turner said was terminally ill, and within months, the girl died. An autopsy later showed the girl didn't have many of the conditions her mother claimed, according to the indictment.

Ruby King, who traveled to the courtroom from her home in East Texas, used to go to church with Turner, she said.

“I just can't comprehend it,” King said after the hearing.

King broke down in tears when Turner entered the courtroom in a red inmate jumpsuit and handcuffs and stared at her throughout the hearing.

Turner's daughter died in Denver Hospice care in August 2017 after a battle with what her mother said was intestinal failure and about a dozen other conditions. The indictment, released in October, revealed that many doctors didn't believe Olivia was a terminal patient and that Turner was ignoring repeated recommendations from her daughter's physicians.

During the hearing, Judge Jeffrey Holmes heard preliminary motions from the prosecution and the defense, and set a court date for Jan. 21.

In the courtroom, King wore a pink T-shirt from a Texas fundraiser with the words “Peace for Princess Olivia” on it. When Turner and her children were living in Texas, King and other friends did what they could to support Olivia through her illness, King said.

Looking back, King said there were signs something was amiss, including that no one was allowed to visit Olivia in the hospital and that Turner said she moved to Denver for better care for the child.

“I questioned her moving to Denver because Houston has a world-renowned children's hospital," King said. "Why would you live somewhere else?”

King planned to return for the next hearing in January, she said.

“I know her soul, there's something wrong with it,” King said. “She needs prayer.”

Elliott Wenzler. Kelly Turner, Crime, Highlands Ranch, Douglas county

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