Court records say the defendant told dispatchers she killed her daughter to protect her.

TURTLE, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman is accused of fatally stabbing her 14-year-old daughter inside their Town of Turtle home, then telling dispatchers the girl was dead and that she had acted to protect her, according to a criminal complaint and local court reporting.

Authorities say Tyiece Oninski, 41, now faces a first-degree intentional homicide charge in the death of Kuren Rein, a Beloit Memorial High School freshman. The case drew immediate attention because prosecutors say the mother described the killing herself during a phone call to Rock County dispatch, while investigators later said the scene inside the home, Oninski’s injuries and medical testing all became part of the evidence. The immediate stakes are both criminal and deeply personal: a teenager is dead, a family is planning a funeral, and the accused remains jailed on a cash bond.

According to the complaint, the case broke open on the morning of March 20, when Oninski called the Rock County Communications Center’s non-emergency line and said she had “murdered” her daughter the night before. Dispatchers asked whether Kuren needed medical help. Oninski answered that the girl was already dead and needed a hearse, investigators said. The call lasted about 13 minutes. During it, prosecutors say, Oninski said she had also tried to kill herself after the stabbing. Deputies and officers were sent to the home in the 2000 block of East Gorton Street at about 7:56 a.m. or just before 8 a.m., depending on the account cited in local reports. When they entered the residence, authorities said, they found Kuren dead inside.

The complaint, as described in local coverage, says officers found a knife and sheath near the girl’s body and saw heavy blood at the scene. One report said Kuren was face down and surrounded by a large amount of blood. Authorities later said the medical examiner determined the cause of death was deep incised wounds to the right side of her neck. The complaint also said Oninski had deep cuts on her neck and wrists, along with another wound on her face or temple area. Investigators said they found what looked like a partial bloody footprint inside the home and then observed red staining on the bottom of Oninski’s left foot. At the hospital, according to the complaint, her blood tested positive for benzodiazepines, amphetamines and THC. What remains unclear from the public record is what happened inside the home in the hours before the call and whether anyone else heard or saw signs of violence before deputies arrived.

Prosecutors say Oninski first told dispatchers she killed Kuren to protect her from “somebody else” and later identified that person as Elon Musk. Public reporting does not describe any evidence that the teenager faced an actual threat from him. That claim instead appears in the case as part of the defendant’s own reported statements. The complaint also added another detail that drew notice in follow-up reports: while hospitalized, Oninski allegedly asked a deputy whether her name was in the news and was unhappy to hear that it was not. The public record at this stage offers no developed explanation for that remark, but prosecutors included it as part of the broader account of her behavior after the killing. Rein’s family has identified the victim publicly, and a fundraiser was created to help with funeral expenses. Reports also said she is survived by an older brother.

The legal case moved quickly after the death investigation began. Rock County authorities first announced on March 23 that a 14-year-old had been found dead and that Oninski, of Beloit, had been arrested on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide. By March 30 and March 31, local reports said she had appeared in court, been formally charged and ordered held on a $1 million cash bond. First-degree intentional homicide is Wisconsin’s most serious homicide charge and can carry a life sentence if a defendant is convicted. Local coverage identified April 14 as the next hearing date at that stage of the case. Public reports reviewed for this account did not provide a fuller post-hearing update, leaving the next visible milestone in the case unclear from those records alone.

Even in a case driven by a criminal complaint, the story reaches beyond the charge sheet. Rein was described in local coverage as a freshman at Beloit Memorial High School, a detail that anchored the loss in an ordinary school year suddenly interrupted by violence. The home itself sat in the Town of Turtle, a small Rock County community near Beloit, where the sheriff’s office said multiple agencies responded to the welfare check. A man described in one report as the homeowner and a grandfather figure told officers he had just woken up and believed Rein had already gone to school. That detail underscored how abruptly the case unfolded and how much of the morning’s normal routine had already been broken by the time officers arrived.

As of April 19, the charge remained the central public fact in the case: prosecutors say the mother admitted the killing, investigators say the physical evidence inside the home supports the accusation, and the fuller account of what led to the stabbing has not yet been aired in open court.

Author note: Last updated April 19, 2026.