Oregon mom allegedly told her kids they were on a sleepover in the car, then tried to kill them with carbon monoxide

KEIZER, Ore. (TCN) -- A mother of three is being held without bail after she allegedly dialed 911 and told dispatchers she had tried to kill herself and her children with carbon monoxide.

On June 6, 32-year-old Chardonnay Marie Benavidez said her three children were falling in and out of consciousness following the alleged attempt, the Statesman Journal reports. She told dispatchers they had spent about 20 minutes in the car with the exhaust running, People reports. When first responders arrived at the home, they found 2-year-old twin boys and a 4-year-old boy in the living room.

The fire department arrived to help police vent the garage, which was filled with a dangerous level of carbon monoxide. Inside the garage, a car was found running. It had a what authorities described as a “makeshift apparatus” that connected the exhaust pipe to the inside of the car, according to the Statesman Journal. Investigators also found a gun in the car. Benavidez later claimed she had planned to turn it on herself if the carbon monoxide killed the children but did not kill her.

According to prosecutors, Benavidez researched carbon monoxide for a week, the Statesman Journal reports. Prosecutors allege she told her children they were all going to have a sleepover in the car with popcorn, WANE reports.

The children were taken to the hospital and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and were put into their father’s care the following day. According to court documents obtained by WOWT, Benavidez and the children’s father divorced in 2024 and Benavidez had sole custody of their children.

WANE reports that the father, Antonio Benavidez, was shocked when he learned what had happened. He said, “She was such a great f---ing mother. I went to the hospital. They wouldn’t let me in. They wouldn’t give me no information. I ended up getting detained because I was like, ‘Dude, those are my kids back there, I’m f---ing going in.’”

Antonio Benavidez said that when the children were medically cleared and released from the hospital into his care, he went back to Chardonnay Benavidez’s residence to pick up their clothes and found that everything was gone from the home. WANE reports that he said his ex had donated everything. 

Benavidez was placed on a psychiatric hold and released on June 7. She was then taken into custody on three counts of attempted murder and three counts of attempting to commit a class A felony, according to the Statesman Journal. At her arraignment, she was ordered held without bond.

According to the Statesman Journal, Benavidez is scheduled to appear in court again on June 17.

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