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LAYTON — A woman was arrested Sunday after she allegedly attempted to kill her two young daughters and told police she did so in order to “prove a point to her husband.”
Karen Suzanne Butterfield, 27, was arrested about 4:30 a.m. Sunday and booked into the Davis County Jail for investigation of child abuse homicide, assault and committing domestic violence in the presence of a child, according to an arrest report.
Police responded to a domestic incident earlier that morning at a Layton address, according to the arrest report and Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman.
Butterfield’s husband recorded her saying “she was going to kill herself and her daughters,” ages 4 and 2, the arrest report states. She stepped on his hand while he was trying to record her, according to the report.
The husband then saw her use a pillow in an attempt to smother both girls before he intervened, according to the report. Butterfield then locked herself in a room with the two girls and choked them with her hands, according to the report.
The husband was able to pry Butterfield’s hands off of the first girl, but she grabbed the other girl and started choking her, the report states. The husband also was able to forcibly separate Butterfield and the second girl.
Both girls had visible neck injuries after the incident, according to the report.
They are both expected to recover, according to Lyman. Butterfield was arrested for investigation of child abuse homicide, but it is likely the Davis County Attorney's Office will charge her with attempted homicide in relation to the incident, Lyman said.
Butterfield fled from the home, causing damage to the garage door and several items in the garage, according to the report. She came back and tried to force her way back into the home by using a knife to pry open the garage door, causing further damage, according to the report.
In an interview with police, Butterfield admitted to using a pillow over the younger daughter’s face, as well as choking both girls, according to the report.
She told police she believed the husband recording her “pushed her to this course of action” and she attempted to hurt the girls because she wanted to “prove a point” to the husband, the report states.
