American Accused of Killing Her Children Faces Extradition

An American woman accused of killing two of her children and then fleeing to the UK has lost a court challenge to avoid being sent back to the US, reports the Guardian. Whether Kimberlee Singler, 36, actually gets extradited is now up to UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who has yet to decide. Police say Singler killed her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son at their home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2023, and attempted to kill her 11-year-old daughter as well. In fighting her extradition, Singler argued that she could be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, which she called a violation of her human rights.

"Ms. Singler, I'm afraid I have rejected a challenge to your extradition," a Westminster judge told her Friday. Prosecutors say Singler killed her children amid a custody fight with her former partner. She initially told police somebody broke into the home, but she fled the country as the story began to unravel. She was arrested in London in December 2023. In addition to awaiting the home secretary's decision, Singler plans to appeal the extradition ruling to the British Supreme Court and may take it to the European Court of Human Rights, per NBC News. Investigators say the children were stabbed and shot, with the surviving child able to tell police what happened. (More extradition stories.)