A North Dakota mother charged in the fatal stabbing of two of her young children allegedly delivered a chilling message to their father moments before the attack, telling him, “Say goodbye to your kids,” according to details in a newly filed affidavit.
Kailey Erhart, 22, now faces multiple criminal charges tied to the Aug. 6 tragedy at a home in Mandan, including two counts of murder, attempted murder, two counts of terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, three counts of aggravated assault and a misdemeanor domestic violence count.
Authorities said Erhart pointed a gun at her estranged husband, Cameron, and threatened to take her own life before allegedly stabbing their 5-month-old and 3-year-old children to death and attacking their 1-year-old child, who survived the assault.
Investigators later recovered video from the chaotic scene that allegedly shows Erhart holding one of the children while keeping a pistol near her hip and making the warning to the children’s father, the affidavit states.
Mandan police were called to the residence after a report that a mother had stabbed her children. Responding officers described an intensely bloody scene that deeply affected even experienced members of law enforcement, according to a police affidavit obtained by Valley News Live.
Officers found Erhart covered in blood and holding a kitchen knife against her throat when they entered the home. Court records say she eventually dropped the knife and told police to kill her.
After Erhart was detained, officers followed blood through the house into a bedroom, where they discovered three small children lying unresponsive on a bed with stab wounds to their necks.
The 5-month-old child was pronounced dead later that night at St. Alexius Medical Center. The 3-year-old died from their injuries Friday morning at Sanford Health, authorities said.
Moments before police arrived at the scene, Erhart had chased the children’s father and grandmother out of the house with a knife.
The father later told investigators that moments before they were locked out he wrestled a pistol away from his crazed ex, and managed to disassemble it and scatter the pieces throughout the house, the affidavit said.
After she was placed under arrest, Erhart told investigators she believed their throats had been cut before she placed them on the bed.
She recalled having the knife in her hands when cops arrived at the home but claimed she didn’t remember anything else.
The affidavit also detailed the couple was separating, and that the father had previously reported to the state’s mental health services that Erhart had previously threatened to harm both him and the children.
After Child Protective Services got involved, Erhart was committed to a mental health facility for an unknown period of time within the last 12-18 months and placed on medication.
She was cleared to be around the children at the time of the incident, according to the affidavit.
Erhart made her first appearance before a judge at the Morton County Courthouse Friday, where bond was set at $3 million cash, the high amount owing to the “extreme violence in these alleged charges and the threat to the community, victims and children,” said District Judge Marina Spahr.
She has not yet entered a plea, and will be back in court Oct. 6.
A GoFundMe page raising money for funeral costs for the slain children, as well as medical bills for the 1-year-old, has raised nearly $27,000 out of a $30,000 goal as of Monday morning.
