(KRON) — A Daly City mother is accused of attempting to kill herself and her 9-year-old daughter before a crisis hotline phone operator alerted police.
Kelly Chan, 39, appeared in court on Friday with her defense attorney. Chan has not yet entered a plea.
According to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, Chan tried to fatally poison her daughter by using carbon monoxide on November 13 inside their Daly City home.
Chan wrote a disturbing text message to a crisis hotline number, prosecutors said. The message asked questions about “how long it would take to commit suicide by turning on her gas stove, and specifically asked questions about carbon monoxide. She also said that she wanted to take her 9 year old daughter with her,” prosecutors wrote.
The hotline operator managed to figure out Chan’s location and alerted the police to conduct a welfare check on the family.
“When the police arrived, the ex-husband was confused and did not want to allow police inside. Officers could smell gas and felt the immediate impact of the gas coming from inside the residence,” prosecutors wrote.
Daly City Police Department officers had to force their way inside the home to check on the girl’s wellbeing. The nine-year-old daughter was unharmed, the DA’s Office said.
The ex-husband told police officers that he had been sleeping before they arrived, and he had no idea what was happening. The failed murder-suicide happened four days after Chan’s 39th birthday, according to investigators.
The District Attorney’s Office charged the mother with first-degree attempted murder, as well as felony child cruelty.
Chan’s defense attorney told the judge that the mother should be evaluated for competency to stand trial. On Friday, the judge appointed a doctor to evaluate Chan’s mental competency.
Chan remains locked in jail with no bail, inmate records show.
