A 22-year-old Mandan mother is charged with murdering two of her young children and attempting to kill a third after police say she used a kitchen knife to cut their throats inside the family home on August 6, according to a report by KFYR-TV.
Kailey Erhart faces two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, and one count of domestic violence resulting in bodily injury. South Central District Judge Marina Spahr set her bond at $3 million cash, citing the extreme violence described in court documents and the threat to the community and remaining victims. Erhart has not entered a plea. Her next court date is scheduled for October 6.
Mandan police responded to a single-wide mobile home at 1205 South Frontier Trail just after 5:40 p.m. on Thursday after a 911 call reported that a mother had locked herself inside with her three children and intended to kill them. Officers forced entry after hearing sounds of an assault. Inside they found Erhart covered in blood, holding a kitchen knife to her own throat. She dropped the knife and told officers to kill her, according to a police affidavit obtained by Valley News Live.
Officers followed a trail of blood to a bedroom where the three children lay motionless on a bed, each with cutting, slashing, or stabbing wounds concentrated on their necks. The five-month-old was pronounced dead that evening at St. Alexius Medical Center. The three-year-old died the next morning at Sanford Health. The one-year-old underwent surgery and survived. Police have not released the child’s current condition, according to the Bismarck Tribune.
According to the affidavit, Erhart’s estranged husband, Cameron, and the children’s grandmother were at the home earlier that day. Cameron told investigators that Erhart had recently purchased a handgun. Video recovered from his phone shows her carrying one of the children with the pistol at her hip as she told him, “Say goodbye to your kids.” He said he wrestled the gun away during a struggle in which she bit and scratched him, then disassembled it and scattered the pieces. Erhart then chased him and the grandmother from the house with a knife and locked the door, according to the affidavit as reported by Law & Crime. The case echoes another recent mother-kills-children tragedy in which a divorce and custody fight preceded the deaths.
Cameron told police the couple had been separating and that he planned to file for divorce. He said Erhart had previously threatened to kill herself and the children. Those threats led to reports to mental health services and Child Protective Services. Erhart had been committed to a mental health facility within the prior 12 to 18 months, placed on medication, and later cleared to be with the children, the affidavit states. Other recent child deaths have followed a similar pattern in which prior child-welfare reports failed to prevent a fatal return to an abusive home.
After her arrest, Erhart told investigators she had placed the children on the bed and believed their throats had already been cut. She said she remembered holding the knife when officers arrived but claimed she did not recall everything that happened. Police recovered the handgun from the home. Erhart showed no apparent injuries of her own.
Police did not publicly name the children. Erhart’s Facebook page identified them as daughter Morgan, age 3; son Colton, about 1; and daughter Ava, born in February. Neighbors said the family had lived in the mobile home park for a couple of years and that Erhart largely kept to herself. A check of her North Dakota criminal history showed only traffic violations.
Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler described the scene as something no one should ever have to see. The department is providing counseling to officers and other first responders. The Morton County Sheriff’s Office, North Dakota Highway Patrol, and state Bureau of Criminal Investigation are assisting in the ongoing investigation. A GoFundMe established for funeral costs and the surviving child’s medical care had raised nearly $27,000 by Monday. The case follows the pattern of another recent case in which a mother was arrested in connection with the deaths of her own children.
Erhart is being held at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center. Court records list her as a Mandan resident who previously lived in Bismarck and is originally from Dickinson.
