Daughter Charged After Mom Found Dead In Closet, Wrapped In Plastic
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A 37-year-old woman in California was charged Tuesday in connection with the death of her mother after authorities found a body wrapped in a plastic bag inside a closet of their home, the Hanford Police Department announced.
Kelli Elizabeth Yingling pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to killing her mother, Peggi Yingling, 67, whoâs body was discovered after a neighbor who had not seen Peggi Yingling in weeks asked police to conduct a welfare check, ABC affiliate KFSN-TV in Fresno reported.
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âThe defendant has been previously convicted of elder abuse and was on felony probation for elder abuse at the time that this offense occurred,â Kings County District Attorney Sarah Hacker said in court, according to KFSN.
Hacker confirmed in an email to HuffPost that Yingling is facing charges of murder in the first degree and elder abuse in connection with her motherâs death.
Carlos Navarrete, her attorney, told KFSN that his client is innocent until proved guilty.
âVery often when we get police reports, we start to see that things are not clear-cut as they made it to be; there are a lot of nuances, and peopleâs memories arenât what they claim or were initially, so we need to investigate all that,â Navarrete said.
Authorities were conducting a welfare check at the victimâs home in Hanford, a small city in the San Joaquin Valley, on May 18. They located the deceased woman inside a locked closet, according to the press release. Police said the victim had been dead âfor an extended amount of time.â
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An autopsy revealed signs that the Yingling had been strangled, the Hanford Police Departmentâs press release said.
Authorities claimed that Kelli Yinglingâs interview with detectives had âimplicated her in the murder.â
Residents living in the Yinglingsâ neighborhood described it to KFSN as quiet, despite police making an appearance at the victimâs home in the past.
Gabriel Virrueta, who lives near the home, described Peggi Yingling as âvery introvertedâ and told KFSN that she would occasionally ask âneighbors for help and ride to the store and ride to the doctorâs office.â
Kelli Yingling had been in custody at King County Jail since May 7, before the body was discovered. She was jailed in connection with a police pursuit on May 2, authorities said in the press release.
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Kelli Yingling had been convicted of elder abuse in 2023 in a case also involving her mother, according to KMPH-TV in Visalia, California.
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