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UTAH STATE PRISON — A Springville woman who killed her daughter by water intoxication is set to be released from prison in less than a year.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole on Tuesday set a release date of Jan. 10, 2012, for Jennete Killpack, 35, who was convicted of child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony, in 2005 and sentenced to one to 15 years in prison.
At a parole hearing last month, Killpack said she was in a "power struggle" with 4-year-old Cassandra on June 9, 2002, when she punished her for stealing a drink from a sibling by forcing her to drink a gallon of water.
I know that I was completely, 100 percent responsible for my choices, my actions and my beliefs. I do not blame anybody else for the decisions I made.
–Jennete Killpack
Killpack said it was a part of a recommended therapy to discipline her daughter by making her repeat any misbehavior in excess. Water intoxication can cut off oxygen and cause swelling in the brain; it can also lead to dangerously low levels of sodium.
"I was getting very frustrated that she was not complying with what I asked her to do," she said. "I had been told many times it was vitally important that I not lose a power struggle because then I would set back everything I had been trying to do."
Killpack said she lost emotional control.
"Honestly, I was cold," she said. "I was in not a very good mental state toward her."
Board member Curtis Garner noted that she has been a model prison inmate, completing counseling programs.
In the hearing, Killpack accepted full responsibility for her daughter's death.
"I know that I was completely, 100 percent responsible for my choices, my actions and my beliefs," she said. "I do not blame anybody else for the decisions I made."
She added, "I could not wrap my mind around it or understand how this happened because there was never any intent to take the life of my child, who I loved so much but who I failed. … I truly believe that that will never, ever happen again.
"I am not the same person I was when I walked in these gates. … I know that I can never pay the debt, and I can never undo the damage I have done."
Her husband, Rick Killpack, who was acquitted in Cassandra's death, tearfully begged for his wife to be released so she could be reunited with their children.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wonder about my little girl," he said. "It's been eight years since I had a chance to hold her in my arms, but the pain is still pretty hard."
He said he was proud of his wife's progress in prison learning parenting skills she never had.
"Please allow my wife to come home so … we can start the healing process," he said.
E-mail: pkoepp@desnews.com
