Wichita mom killed her teen son before being shot by police. Now she is guilty of murder
A Wichita mother who was shot by police after she killed her 14-year-old son pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of first-degree felony murder.
Kylee Renee Hodges, 43, is expected to be sentenced later this summer in the January death of Claude Hodges Jr., a Northwest High School freshman and wrestler who family said wanted to be a lawyer when he grew up. The sentencing date has not yet been set but should be in July, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. She faces a presumptive sentence of life in prison, with parole eligibility after 25 years, under Kansas sentencing guidelines.
Police found Claude dead in a bedroom from multiple gunshot wounds, including to the chest, shortly before 2 a.m. on Jan. 29 after his mother failed to meet his father for a custody exchange the previous evening. Officers went to Hodges’ apartment, 8405 W. Central, around 6:20 p.m. on Jan. 28 to check the boy’s welfare after his father couldn’t reach him by phone. Police entered the apartment after seeing a bullet hole in an exterior apartment wall and found Hodges kneeling on the floor with a gun under her chin, tipping off a multi-hour standoff that ended when officers shot her after she pointed a gun at SWAT members, according to a probable cause affidavit released by the court.
The affidavit says relatives and others who knew Hodges told police she was embroiled in a lengthy custody battle with the teen’s father and had struggled mentally and financially after being fired from her job as a parole officer. Some also said Hodges was obsessed with her son and that their relationship had grown contentious because the boy wanted to spend more time with his father and new stepmother, but it isn’t clear from the affidavit exactly why she killed him.
Hodges was hospitalized and underwent multiple surgeries after police shot her. She was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail about two weeks later.
The plea comes days before Hodges was scheduled for a June 18 preliminary hearing on one count of first-degree premeditated murder, conviction of which could have landed her in prison for 50 years to life. An amended complaint filed by prosecutors Thursday alleges Hodges killed her son “while in the commission of, attempt to commit, or flight from an inherently dangerous felony,” specifically child abuse.
This story was originally published June 14, 2024 at 11:19 AM.
