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Court docs: Clay County mom fell asleep with kids in car

Posted at 2:47 PM, Jul 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-11 18:18:58-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The mother of two children found dead in Clay County last week said she fell asleep in her car the previous night with the kids inside, and the next morning found them unresponsive.

On that morning, temperatures rose to 83 degrees by 9 a.m. in the Kansas City area. The high was 93. 

A search warrant obtained by 41 Action News outlines what Clay County sheriff’s detectives found out in their investigation into the deaths of the two girls, ages 2 and 8 weeks old. 

The girls' mother, Jenna Boedecker, told detectives that following an argument with her husband late on July 3 – an incident in which Boedecker has been charged with domestic assault, armed criminal action and property damage – Boedecker and her two kids were locked out of the house because she didn't have a key. She said at some point she took the girls to the Jeep to sleep. 

The records show that when Clay County sheriff's deputies got to the house on July 4, they noticed the front door of the house was slightly open and the Jeep's windows were rolled up. 

Boedecker said when she woke up the next morning, she found the two girls unresponsive and tried to revive them with water. She said she went to the shed next to the house to find a gas can because the car didn't have much gas. Boedecker said she rushed over to a neighbor’s house for help, where they tried to cool the girls down with wet rags and fans. 

The neighbor called police at 12:10 p.m., according to records. 

She later told investigators she found the key to the house but didn't go in. 

Boedecker's husband told investigators when he left the house after the fight the night before, the kids were inside. 

Boedecker has not been charged in the girls’ deaths.