LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
A woman who held a knife to her toddler son while being barricaded from Las Vegas Metro police for almost four hours said she did it in order to have officers kill her.
According to an arrest report released Monday, Kimberly Kardell, 34, was arrested Saturday after telling police she was threatening to kill herself and her 11-month-old son at the Budget Suites in the 2200 block of N. Rancho Drive.
Just after 7 a.m. that morning, Kardell, who identified herself as "Sophia Maria Banana Hammock," told police she had a knife and was holding it against her son. When police arrived, officers said they saw her holding the child with one arm and holding a knife in a free hand.
After refusing to free her son to police, SWAT was called to the hotel and an officer attempted to make contact with her through the hotel room's telephone.
In a conversation with the officer that surpassed 30 minutes, Kardell said she was upset about a former boyfriend breaking up with her.
Police were able to make their way into the room three hours after Kardell first called 911. Officers were able to safely take the child from the room and arrest the woman without much harm to anyone.
Both she and the boy were checked out by medical personnel. The boy was relatively unharmed while Kardell had scratches and minor cuts, police said. The boy was turned over to Child Protective Services while Kardell was turned over to Metro police.
In an interview, Kardell said she had recently returned to Las Vegas after living in the city off and on since 2004. She had tried to turn over the child to his father who lives in Las Vegas but did not hear from him while in town. She said she was not able to provide the boy with what he needed.
She had checked out a room at the Budget Suites four days before the incident but had little money left. Kardell told police she spent some money on methamphetamine and that she smoked those drugs on the morning of the incident.
During that morning, she told detectives that she was hearing voices. She also indicated that she was stressed and desperate to get help for her son. Police said Kardell wanted to commit "suicide by cop" but never intended to hurt her son.
When asked why she did not give up the child, she said he was needed for leverage. She acknowledged the situation was not safe for her son, police said.
Police booked Kardell on charges including child abuse and endangerment with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer with a weapon, first degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon and allowing a child to be in the presence of a controlled substance.
Detectives also recovered a number of items from Kardell's room including a folding knife, a steak knife, a butcher knife, screwdriver, hammer and a pair of scissors.
Police also found she had past child protective incidents involving her other child, a 9-year-old son.
Kardell was booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
Kimberly Kardell (LVMPD)
