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VERNAL, Utah, May 24, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A Vernal woman has been charged with murder after police say she admitted to suffocating her 3-year-old stepdaughter, according to court documents.
Twenty-three-year-old Mckenley Jordan Yadon, who goes by the name Mckenley Stout, told a Vernal Police officer she placed her hands and a blanket over the face of her stepdaughter and maintained pressure until the girl stopped struggling, the probable cause statement says.
“At 11:46 p.m. on March 14 of this year, Vernal Police officials were called to the scene, at 1536 W. 300 South, on a report of an unresponsive child.
“The toddler, identified in court papers as A.S., was not breathing, was cold to the touch, and was found to have signs of choking, including dark purple bruises. She was pronounced dead at the Ashley Regional Medical Center at 12:45 pm.”
Police say Yadon and A.S.’s infant brother were the only ones in the home when the toddler suffered the fatal injuries.
An autopsy was performed on March 15. The Medical Examiner’s Office found the manner of death to be ‘homicide’ and the cause of death to be ‘asphyxia due to smothering.’
“Post Miranda warning, Mckenley admitted to causing the death of A.S.,” according to Vernal Police.
During questioning, police say Mckenley admitted to smothering the child using a blanket. She also allegedly told interrogators “she had been planning and thinking about doing this act for two or three days prior to March 14, 2019.”
Yadon/Stout was booked into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of:
- Murder, a first-degree felony
- Child abuse — infliction of serious physical injury intentionally, a second-degree felony
She is being held without bail, court documents say.
