GRANITE FALLS - A woman who pulled a revolver from under a sofa and attempted suicide while being interviewed by law officers pleaded guilty to child endangerment for the incident.
Kelly Anderson-Person, 34, of Hendricks, formerly of Clarkfield, pleaded guilty to the gross misdemeanor offense at a hearing Tuesday in Yellow Medicine County District Court in Granite Falls.
District Judge Dwayne Knutsen deferred acceptance of the plea and ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Anderson-Person could face a year in jail.
“I tried to commit suicide. I tried to shoot myself in the head,’’ said Anderson-Person in testimony offered with the plea.
Her then-nine-month-old daughter was in her lap when she pulled the .38-caliber revolver from under the sofa cushion.
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The incident occurred Aug. 13 at her home in Clarkfield. Two officers from South Dakota were interviewing her about the remains of two infants that had been found in November 2012 near Fish Lake in Deuel County, S.D. She told the officers that she had given birth to two infants in 2009 and 2011 and disposed of the bodies.
The officers tackled Anderson-Person as she pulled the gun from under the sofa. She testified that it discharged into the ceiling.
In response to questions from Judge Knutsen, Anderson-Person acknowledged that putting the gun under the sofa and attempting suicide with it put her child at risk. Her attorney, Daniel Mohs, pointed out that she could be found guilty for “reckless” behavior, even though she had not intended to put her child at risk.
See tomorrow’s print edition for more details.
