Mother suspected of killing 2 children was in custody battle with ex-husband and had accused him of violence, attorney says

(CNN) — A Colorado Springs woman who is accused of killing her two children and seriously injuring a third had been going through a “contentious divorce and custody dispute” with her former spouse, his attorney detailed in a news release to CNN earlier this week.

During the contentious battle that began in September 2018, Kimberlee Singler made “egregious allegations of child abuse and domestic violence,” against her ex-husband Kevin Wentz, his attorney Jennifer Darby said in a news release.

Last September, Singler alleged Wentz brandished a knife toward her and filed and was granted a request for a Temporary Protection Order in El Paso County, the news release detailed.

Wentz denied brandishing a knife and a hearing on the matter was rescheduled for January 24, according to the release.

In November, the Larimer County Court held a hearing on Singler’s Emergency Motion to Restrict Parenting time related to the same knife allegation.

Once the court found no “imminent” threat, it ordered Wentz to have family time with his children around Thanksgiving and again around Christmas. Exchanges of the kids were set to occur at two police stations, according to the news release.

A hearing was set for January 11 to address a contempt motion against Singler after she failed to follow previous parenting time orders and at another date in January, the court was to address modifying parenting time, the news release detailed.

Singler was scheduled to bring the children to one of the stations on December 16, but she did not, and she did not respond to Wentz or his divorce attorney, Darby said in the news release.

An emergency motion to involve law enforcement in enforcing Wentz’s parent time was filed and granted, and Singler was ordered to appear in court with the children on the matter on December 20, the news release said.

A clerk for the court left a message for Singler about the court order on December 18.

Singler’s 7-year-old son Aden Wentz and her 9-year-old daughter Elianna “Ellie” Wentz were found dead in Singler’s Colorado Springs home on December 19. Her unnamed 11-year-old daughter was also found seriously injured.

CNN has reached out to an attorney who once represented Singler in the divorce proceedings before withdrawing from the case.

Singler was arrested in the United Kingdom on December 30 and faces four counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, CNN previously reported. The charges for each alleged crime were doubled due to the children being under the age of 12.

Singler’s next court appearance abroad is scheduled for January 29, according to a spokesperson for the UK’s National Crime Agency.

The arrest records for Singler will remain sealed as the courts navigate the extradition process from the UK, the Colorado Springs Police Department said earlier this week.

“Kevin was devastated when he learned the news of his children’s death. Mr. Wentz fully cooperated with the police investigation,” Darby said. “Kevin and his family are suffering a tremendous amount of grief and shock.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with funeral costs and to help care for the surviving child. A private funeral will be held sometime this week, Darby said.

CNN’s Andi Babineau and Eve Brennan contributed to this report.

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