Oregon mother accused of planned carbon monoxide murder-suicide attempt

Authorities in Oregon say Chardonnay Marie Benavidez turned a family car and a closed garage into a carbon monoxide trap, then called 911 after the plan allegedly nearly killed her three children. Prosecutors say the 32-year-old Keizer mother is being held without bail after a June 6 call in which she told dispatchers she had tried to kill herself and the children with exhaust fumes.

When first responders reached the home, they found 2-year-old twin boys and a 4-year-old boy in the living room. Firefighters had to vent the garage after detecting dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, and investigators found a running car with a makeshift apparatus connected to the exhaust pipe. A gun was also inside the vehicle, adding another lethal element to a scene investigators say was assembled in advance.

The children were reportedly falling in and out of consciousness after spending about 20 minutes in the car with the exhaust running. Prosecutors say the evidence points to planning, not impulse. They allege Benavidez researched carbon monoxide for a week before the incident and told the children they were going to have a sleepover in the car with popcorn, a detail that makes the alleged deception especially chilling because it was directed at very young victims.

The boys survived and were treated at a hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. They were released into the care of their father, Antonio Benavidez, the following day. Antonio Benavidez said he was shocked and frustrated when he learned what had happened and described trying to get access to his children at the hospital. He also said that when he later returned to the home to collect the children’s clothes, he found the house stripped bare.

Court records referenced in the case say the parents divorced in 2024 and that Chardonnay Marie Benavidez had sole custody at the time. She was placed on a psychiatric hold and later released on June 7. For investigators, the case now rests on a hard sequence of facts: a running engine, a sealed garage, the alleged week of research, and the children’s account of a promised popcorn-filled sleepover that never was.