Investigators say the Oregon woman reported an attempted murder-suicide after taking her young sons out of a car filled with exhaust.

KEIZER, Ore. — A mother called 911 from her Keizer home on June 6 and reported that her three young children were losing consciousness after she tried to kill them and herself with carbon monoxide, police and prosecutors said.

The call brought police, firefighters and medical crews to a house on Holly Court Northeast at about 8:20 p.m. Inside, officers found 32-year-old Chardonnay Marie Benavidez and her three sons, twin 2-year-olds and a 4-year-old, in the living room. Investigators allege that moments earlier, the four had been sitting in a running vehicle whose exhaust had been directed into its passenger compartment. The children survived and were released to their father the following day. Benavidez now faces three counts each of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault.

Keizer Police Department Lt. Trevor Wenning said Benavidez told dispatchers that she had taken the children back into the house before calling for help. According to Wenning, she said they had spent about 20 minutes in the vehicle while its engine ran and exhaust entered the interior. The children were falling in and out of consciousness, authorities said. Officers entered the residence and located the family in the living room, but the attached garage presented a separate danger. Exhaust fumes were so strong near the garage that officers experienced burning eyes and trouble breathing. They could not immediately enter the space where the vehicle remained. Firefighters wearing breathing equipment went inside, opened the garage and cleared enough contaminated air for investigators to examine the scene. Police said none of the responding officers required medical treatment.

Investigators said they found a makeshift arrangement running from the vehicle’s exhaust pipe into its interior. Police have not publicly released photographs showing every part of the setup or identified the materials used to assemble it. The engine had generated enough exhaust to make the enclosed garage unsafe after Benavidez and the children had left the car, according to officers. The condition of the home showed why firefighters, rather than unprotected officers, had to make the first entry into the garage. Police treated the device, vehicle and surrounding area as evidence. They also found a gun inside the car. Prosecutors later said Benavidez told investigators she intended to use the weapon on herself if the carbon monoxide killed the children but did not kill her. Authorities have not alleged that the gun was fired or pointed at any of the boys.

All four family members went to the emergency department at Salem Hospital for treatment connected to carbon monoxide exposure. Officials have not released the children’s medical records or described their individual symptoms beyond the reported changes in consciousness. Police said the boys were medically cleared June 7. With help from the Oregon Department of Human Services, they were released to their father. Their names have not been made public because they are minors. Benavidez remained at the hospital under a physician’s hold and was evaluated by psychiatric staff, according to police reporting presented after the incident. Medical workers cleared her June 7, and Keizer officers arrested her after her release from the hold. She was then booked into the Marion County Jail.

The emergency call became a central part of the early case because Benavidez allegedly described both the danger and her own role before officers reached the house. Prosecutors said during her arraignment that the case came to police when she reported placing herself and the children in the vehicle with the exhaust running. That account, however, remains an allegation that must be tested through the court process. Public reports have not disclosed a recording or transcript of the complete 911 call. They also have not said how long the children had been inside the house before officers arrived, whether Benavidez attempted first aid or whether anyone else was present at the property. Investigators have not announced results from laboratory testing of the family’s carbon monoxide exposure or from any mechanical examination of the vehicle.

At her arraignment in Marion County Circuit Court, a prosecutor said the episode followed about a week of research and planning. The state alleged that Benavidez considered several ways to kill herself and the children before choosing vehicle exhaust because she believed they could fall asleep together. Prosecutors said she told the boys they were going to have a “sleepover” in the car. The description presented a familiar activity to children too young to understand the danger, the state alleged. Authorities said the boys began showing signs of distress after the exhaust entered the cabin. Benavidez then removed them from the vehicle, brought them into the living room and made the emergency call. Investigators have not publicly identified the specific online searches, devices or records they believe document the alleged week of preparation.

Police said they did not know of an earlier case in which Benavidez had been reported as a threat to her children. That statement did not resolve questions about her condition before June 6 or what events may have preceded the alleged attempt. The children’s father, Antonio Benavidez, described his former wife as a previously caring mother and expressed shock over the accusations. He said he rushed to the hospital but initially could not reach the children or obtain information about them. His account reflected the confusion outside the emergency department while medical workers treated four members of the same family and authorities began a criminal investigation. Officials have not publicly identified a motive beyond the statements about a planned murder-suicide that prosecutors attributed to Benavidez.

The state charged Benavidez with three counts of first-degree attempted murder, one for each child. Reports from the case also list three counts of first-degree assault. Attempted murder charges require prosecutors to prove more than dangerous conduct or poor judgment. The state must establish the required intent and a substantial step toward committing the alleged killings. Evidence cited at the initial hearing included the exhaust arrangement, the length of time the family allegedly spent in the car, the gun recovered from the vehicle, Benavidez’s reported statements and the alleged research before the incident. Those claims have not been tested at trial. Benavidez is presumed innocent unless she enters a guilty plea or prosecutors prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

A Marion County judge initially ordered Benavidez held without bail. A follow-up court appearance was scheduled for June 17, but publicly available reports reviewed for this account did not establish the result of that proceeding or identify a later trial date. Future hearings could address her custody status, legal representation, evidence, plea and scheduling. Prosecutors may also present the case to a grand jury or amend the charging document as the investigation develops. Defense attorneys would have an opportunity to challenge statements, search procedures, medical evidence and the state’s description of intent. No defense explanation of the June 6 events was included in the early public reports.

The case began not with a neighbor’s report or an officer discovering an occupied car, but with the accused woman’s own request for emergency assistance. That call may have shortened the children’s exposure and allowed responders to begin treatment, although authorities have not estimated how close they were to suffering fatal injuries. It does not by itself settle the criminal questions. Prosecutors can argue that stopping an attempt does not erase earlier conduct, while the timing and circumstances of the call may become important to the defense and to any later sentencing decision. The children’s survival changed the case from a possible homicide investigation into an attempted murder prosecution, but it did not reduce the seriousness of the alleged danger.

As of the latest verified public reporting, the three boys were out of the hospital and in their father’s care, while Benavidez remained accused of trying to kill them. The next public milestone will be a documented court filing or hearing setting out how the case will proceed.

Author note: Last updated July 11, 2026.