A Craig mother facing a negligent homicide charge
\nin the fiery Christmas Eve death of her son, 3-year-old Lane Ernest Cullen, took the stand Monday in an evidentiary
\nhearing in Judge Michael O\u2019Hara\u2019s Moffat County courtroom.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hara ruled Monday he would suppress some police interviews and statements made by family and friends of Jenkins regarding her possible drug abuse before the fire and would limit the scope of statements prosecutors can make to a jury in regard to Jenkins supposed prior drug use. But O\u2019Hara also denied motions by Jenkins\u2019 defense team to suppress recorded admissions of guilt she supposedly made to police, and will rule on a motion to suppress a search warrant for Jenkins\u2019 vehicle after reviewing case law and precedents brought by Jenkins\u2019 defense team.<\/p>\n
According to arrest records, 26-year-old Vanessa Allison Jenkins, aka Vanessa Jenkins Day, was arrested April 3 on a charge of child abuse negligently causing death.<\/p>\n
A 13-page redacted arrest
\nwarrant affidavit obtained by the Craig Press in April details the
\ncircumstances surrounding the fire, in which Jenkins said she found herself
\nwaking up on the couch to her home ablaze and her child screaming as the room
\nhe was in was engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n
According to the affidavit, officers with the Craig Police Department responded to the 1900 block of Woodland Avenue about 10:30 a.m. Christmas Eve 2018 to find smoke and flames billowing from the home and a woman, later identified as Jenkins, \u201cyelling that her child was still inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least three Craig officers
\nwere first on the scene and tried to enter the home, without success.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a few feet, we could not
\ncontinue any farther into the residence due to flames and smoke,\u201d the affidavit
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
One of those first on the
\nscene, Detective Norm Rimmer, relived that day in his testimony Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on call that week as the on-call detective and I was actually in the office doing some paperwork that morning,\u201d Rimmer said Monday of the December event.<\/p>\n
After receiving and responding to the call, Rimmer said he tried breaking a rear bedroom window to gain access. But Rimmer and the other police officers first on scene were eventually forced to retreat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a few feet, we could not continue any farther into the residence due to flames and smoke,\u201d the affidavit<\/p>\n
Then it came time to allow Craig Fire\/Rescue to take over the task.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fire department split into
\ntwo teams \u2014 one was a rescue recovery team,\u201d Rimmer said Monday. \u201cThe other
\nteam was fire suppression.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was all their efforts that eventually allowed investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and other area agencies to descend upon the area to find out what exactly happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were two people inside the home when the fire
\nstarted,\u201d Rimmer said. \u201cOne person made it out. The other person did not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of Monday\u2019s hearing was
\ntestimony from Rimmer as prosecutors tried to establish why evidence gathered
\nby the Craig Police Department and others deserved to be heard by a jury.<\/p>\n
Rimmer said upon searching the
\ntruck Jenkins had been using, he found a powerful prescription medication used
\nto wean drug addicted persons off heroin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found a prescription bottle
\nthat was prescribed suboxone to Vanessa Jenkins,\u201d Rimmer said Monday. \u201c\u2026That
\nmedication showed that it was to be taken twice daily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rimmer said Jenkins was also on a host of other mental health and mood-stabilizing medications she may have taken all at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way she described it,
\nyes,\u201d Rimmer said upon questioning from the prosecution. \u201cIt sounded like that
\nwas taken all at once. That was her daily medication.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenkins also took the stand Monday. In her limited testimony, she admitted to having a prescription for suboxone in the truck along with her child seats. Other than short words spoken between her attorneys and an audience member, Jenkins sat quietly Monday when not on the stand.<\/p>\n
Jenkins\u2019 defense team argued Jenkins should have been made aware of her Miranda rights before she was interviewed by police and her privacy was violated when Judge Sandra Gardner approved a search warrant of the truck Jenkins was driving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m being asked to limit
\nevidence in this case,\u201d O\u2019Hara said Monday.<\/p>\n
Though Jenkins may have been a
\ndrug user in the past, O\u2019Hara ruled prosecutors did not present evidence
\nJenkins was abusing drugs at the time of her son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no evidence she was
\nusing heroin or methamphetamine on a regular basis,\u201d O\u2019Hara said.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hara then ruled that Jenkins
\ndid not have to be mirandized and her admission of guilt was admissible, that
\nprosecutors could present evidence Jenkins left a lighter on the coffee table
\nbefore falling asleep, and will permit evidence regarding the multiple other
\nmedications Jenkins was taking.<\/p>\n
When it came to whether the
\nsearch warrant for Jenkins\u2019 truck was admissible, O\u2019Hara signaled he wanted to
\nlook closely at a prior case that might help him make a ruling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to take a look at
\nthat case before ruling,\u201d O\u2019Hara said.<\/p>\n
Rimmer said Jenkins showed remorse
\nand took responsibility for her son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe felt like she was the worst mom ever,\u201d Rimmer said Monday. \u201cShe felt like she totally blamed herself \u2026 She accepted full responsibility for what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Craig mother facing a negligent homicide charge in the fiery Christmas Eve death of her son, 3-year-old Lane Ernest Cullen, took the stand Monday in an evidentiary hearing in Judge Michael O\u2019Hara\u2019s Moffat County courtroom. O\u2019Hara ruled Monday he would suppress some police interviews and statements made by family and friends of Jenkins regarding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-02 16:23:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}