An Oregon mother is facing three counts of first-degree attempted murder after she allegedly lured her three young children into a car and attempted to expose them to carbon monoxide.
Chardonnay Marie Benavidez, 32, stands accused of a murder-suicide plot but apparently had a change of heart at the last minute. Benavidez told dispatchers that she had attempted to kill herself and her three children, a four-year-old and two-year-old twins, by flooding the vehicle they were in with the deadly gas known as carbon monoxide. She would do so by routing exhaust fumes into the vehicle through a pipe connected from the exhaust to the car’s interior. She had reportedly told the kids they would be having a sleepover in the car in order to convince them to get in.
However, she had a change of heart according to the KOIN, as she dialed 911 around 8:20 p.m. on Saturday and told operators that she and her children were falling in and out of consciousness. When police arrived at the scene they found Benavidez along with all three of her children in the living room of their house. They also found the car in the attached garage with a pipe from the exhaust to the vehicles interior.
Chardonnay Marie Benavidez is arrested and the children’s father is contacted
Following the incident Benavidez and the children were rushed to Salem Hospital Emergency Department. The mother was placed on physician’s hold before being released and transported to the Marion County Correctional Facility.
Meanwhile authorities contacted Antonio Benavidez who divorced Chardonnay in 2024. Antonio told KOIN that he was shocked to get the call. “She was such a great f—ing mother,” he said, he added that he went to get his kids but initially wasn’t let in, “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-cking going in.’”
Antonio claims that his ex-wife had made comments in the past indicating that she was struggling but had never mentioned anything about the kids. “She said it a few times, but I mean, you know, we all do,” he said. Since the incident Antonio has been trying to keep everything normal for the kids, “They don’t really know what’s going on, which is good.”
As for Chardonnay Marie Benavidez, the mother made her first appearance in court on Monday. The court heard how she had told the children they would have a sleepover with popcorn in the car. She also allegedly told law enforcement that she had been planning it for a week and considered other options as well. There was also a gun found in the car.
