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Mother facing homicide charges in toddler's death

Phillip Bock

SHEBOYGAN - Katlyn Kinateder, 27, was charged Monday with first-degree intentional homicide for the death of her 2-year-old son.

Katlyn Kinateder

Kinateder was also charged with moving and hiding the corpse of a child, also a felony, for allegedly killing her toddler, named Dexter, Thursday and hiding his body in a cardboard box. Her bond was set at $750,000.

RELATED STORY:Mother arrested for killing toddler in Sheboygan Falls

The criminal complaint said police received a 911 call from a woman at 2:55 p.m. on Thursday that reported a toddler had been strangled to death at a condominium in the 700 block of Woodview Avenue in Sheboygan Falls. It was later determined that Kinateder made the 911 call, according to Sheboygan District Attorney Joe DeCecco.

Upon arrival, police officers encountered Kinateder standing in the main stairway leading up to her upper-level apartment. Kinateder came at officers with a large butcher knife, ignoring commands to drop the knife and get down on the ground, according to Steven Riffel, Sheboygan Falls Chief of Police

Katlyn Kinateder sits with her attorney during her initial appearance in court Monday. Kinateder is accused of killing her 2-year-old son on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016.

She eventually dropped the knife and got on the ground, but became aggressive when officers went to arrest her. Police deployed a taser to subdue Kinateder.

After Kinateder was taken into custody, officers entered the apartment and found the lifeless child in a cardboard box that had two other boxes stacked on top of it in a hallway closet.

Attempts to revive the child were unsuccessful, and he was declared dead at St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan.

"Children are among the most vulnerable in our society, and adults are supposed to protect them, not kill them — and that is what is alleged here," DeCecco said.

In an interview with officers, Kinateder admitted to killing the boy by placing a plastic grocery bag over his head and suffocating him. She told officers she had "lost my mind" and wanted to die. She said she came at officers with the knife because she wanted them to "shoot her dead."

"She indicates she lost it and allegedly had stopped taking some mental health medications several months earlier," DeCecco said. "We spoke with a live-in partner who went to work that day. There was no fight of any kind. He was at a loss to explain why she did this."

Kinateder told officers she had stopped taking anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication about nine months earlier because she thought she could "handle it."

Kinateder and the child were the only two in the residence at the time.

A preliminary hearing will likely be held next Wednesday, and she will be asked to enter a plea. DeCecco said he would be surprised if the defense does not enter a plea of not guilty by means of reason of mental disease or defect.

"What that means is the medical professionals have to determine that she does suffer from a mental disease or defect and that, in addition, that the particular condition either prevented her, at the time she did this, from knowing right from wrong or from controlling her behavior," DeCecco said.

Reach reporter Phillip Bock: 920-453-5121,, or @bockling on Twitter.