Linette Boedicker
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 | 7:45 p.m.
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A woman and her 2-year-old daughter were alone in a northeast valley apartment the afternoon before Mother’s Day.
While the toddler napped, Linette Fay Boedicker, 44, let water pour into a bathtub, the woman later told Metro Police. Her husband had just left for work, police said.
When the tub was full, Boedicker grabbed the sleeping little girl and dunked her into the water, holding her under and pushing on her little shoulders as she struggled to breathe, according to the woman’s arrest report.
Only when Kiersten Linette Boedicker’s lungs gave out on May 11, Boedicker decided to call 911, police said. She told an operator about 3 p.m. that her child had drowned.
Despite life-saving measures, Kiersten died at University Medical Center.
“I held her under,” a Metro sergeant reported Boedicker saying, “I wanted her to go back to God, so he can’t touch her anymore.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no evidence to substantiate Boedicker’s allegations of molestation, Lt. Ray Spencer said. In fact, the suspect told detectives that she hadn’t seen any child sexual abuse but only suspected it, according to the report.
Sarah Hawkins, Boedicker’s court-appointed public defender, has said she'll challenge police accounts saying she admitted to officers that she held her daughter underwater, the Associated Press reported.
Boedicker remained at the Clark County Detention Center on a count of murder, with a $1 million bond.
During the 911 call, the operator instructed Boedicker to pull the child from the tub and perform CPR, but there was no indication she did. Although she said she had, she put Kiersten back in the water when she heard an officer at the door, police said.
But the officer had to wait almost two minutes before Boedicker allowed entrance, police said. The officer reported that Kiersten was fully clothed and floating face up, police said. The officer carried her to the hallway and attempted to save her life.
However, those attempts, as well as those by medics, proved futile. Kiersten was rushed to the hospital, while police hauled Boedicker to jail.
Yes, her child was dead, but Boedicker apparently found a silver lining: Her daughter “was in heaven and was no longer in any danger,” according to her reported account.
As for the Boedicker’s fate, she said, “she didn’t care what happens to her because” — like her daughter — “her life was over,” according to the arrest report.
Boedicker is next due in court Friday morning, jail logs show.
