A US mother charged with murdering two of her young children has lost her fight to avoid extradition from the UK.
Kimberlee Singler’s nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son were found dead in a residential property in Colorado after being shot in the head and stabbed in the neck on 19 December 2023, police said.
Singler’s 11-year-old daughter was also at the scene with an injury after she was slashed with a knife, officers added.
Prosecutors allege the 36-year-old carried out the attacks in Colorado Springs amid a protracted custody battle with her ex-partner.
Singler had superficial knife wounds at the scene of the murders and was initially treated as a victim.
However that changed when her surviving daughter, who initially said she had been attacked by an intruder, told police her mother tried to kill her.
Despite initially co-operating with the investigation, Singler reportedly disappeared on 23 December 2023 and a warrant was issued for her arrest on murder charges.
She was arrested by the National Crime Agency in Kensington, west London, on 30 December 2023 and appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on New Year’s Day facing extradition to the United States.
She has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.
Singler has denied that she harmed her children and told police that her ex-husband had either carried out the killings or hired a hitman.
Following her arrest in London, Singler’s lawyer argued that sending her back to the US would violate European human rights law, in part, because she faces a sentence of life in prison without parole in Colorado if convicted of first-degree murder.
Such a sentence would be inhumane because it offers no prospect for release even if she is rehabilitated, lawyer Edward Fitzgerald added.
Prosecutor Joel Smith said the judge only had to consider if there is a mechanism that could allow Singler to be freed someday.
“Prospect of release – that is not your concern,” Mr Smith told the judge at a hearing in December.
District Judge John Zani rejected Singler’s challenge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.
Singler, wearing a teal jumper and jogging bottoms, was remanded into custody
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will now decide whether she is to be extradited to the US.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
