Plea hearing for mother accused of stabbing two children pushed to March
Camacho-Duenas expected to plead insanity
Arraignment for the Glenwood Springs mother accused of stabbing her two children to death was pushed to March 3, citing a plea around mental health.
In a Thursday morning video hearing, public defender Elise Myer said she was unprepared to enter a plea for her client, Claudia Camacho-Duenas, citing that she had not received some discovery items that would inform a plea relevant to mental health and insanity statutes.
“As the discovery continues to come in, we have a wealth of information at this point,” Myer said in the hearing. “I still know there’s, I think, a significant amount of information we still don’t have.”
Camacho-Duenas was taken into custody Dec. 30 on the 100 block of Soccer Field Road after law enforcement was called. Arriving officers found her being detained by witnesses after allegedly stabbing her 11-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son repeatedly. Neither victim survived.
Prosecutor Jefferson J. Cheney supported the request to delay in anticipation of a Not Guilty by Reasons of Insanity plea.
“I think the decision to (plead not guilty by reason of insanity) should be informed, and I don’t think the lack of some discovery allows the defense to be properly informed to make that plea,” Cheney told Garfield District Judge Denise Lynch.
The defense also requested a return on a subpoena for Jan. 31 ahead of the March 3 arraignment.
Camacho-Duenas did not speak, appearing remotely from the Garfield County Detention Center. She received interpretation via phone.
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