DENVER (CBS4) – A group of suspected criminals who authorities say are responsible for numerous thefts across the Denver metro area in the past 21 months face numerous charges after an indictment was handed down by a grand jury.

The Denver District Attorney’s office announced on Friday that a variety of items valued at more than $600,000 were taken from nearly 100 victims. Eight people have been arrested as a part of the bust.

Police say Jesus Luna-Rodriguez, 22, Lucio Sierra-Camarena, 21, Luz Lomeli-Lucio, 35, and Ivan Lopez-Banuelos, 22, all face the following charges:

– violating Colorado’s Organized Crime Control Act
– conspiracy
– identity theft
– aggravated motor vehicle theft
– possession of forged instruments
– burglary

Luz Lomeli-Lucio (credit: Denver DA)

Ivan Lopez-Banuelos (credit: Denver DA)

Jesus Luna-Rodriguez (credit: Denver DA)

Lucio Sierra-Camarena (credit: Denver DA)

Booking photos and names of the four other suspects have not been released. They face many of the same charges.

Authorities say the group used methamphetamine and stole cars, electronics and money to fuel the habit.

The DA’s office says more than 500 grams of meth were allegedly found in Lomeli-Lucio’s home as part of the bust. She faces additional charges for that.

Court dates have not been set for any of the suspects.

DENVER (CBS4)– A major crime ring in the Denver metro area has been busted for crimes they allegedly committed to feed their methamphetamine habit.

A Denver grand jury has indicted eight people on 142 charges including burglary, identity theft and motor vehicle theft.

Jesus Luna-Rodriguez, Ivan Lopez-Banuelos, Lucio Sierra-Camarena and Luz Lomeli-Lucio have been charged with violating Colorado’s Organized Crime Control Act in addition to multiple felony counts.

Ivan Lopez-Banuelos and Jesus Luna-Rodriguez (credit: CBS)

Lomeli-Lucio is also accused of multiple counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances after more than 500 grams of meth were allegedly seized from her home.

Lucio Sierra-Camarena and Luz Lomeli-Lucio (credit: Denver DA)

Four other co-defendants are also accused of aiding the criminal enterprise and have been charged with aggravated motor vehicle theft, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, identity theft and credit card fraud.

Investigators say since February 2014 the group has been stealing cars, electronics and money to pay for their methamphetamine habit.

There are nearly 100 victims who have lost a total of more than $600,000. . Victims were located in Denver, Lakewood, Aurora, Englewood, Littleton, Adams County, Arapahoe County, Douglas County and Jefferson County.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (CBS4)– Two people were arrested when authorities found 40 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a secret compartment in an SUV on Interstate 70.

Investigators with the Western Colorado Drug Task Force searched an SUV that was traveling on I-70 near Loma when they discovered a hidden compartment in the rear of the Jeep Liberty.

Forty pounds of meth was seized from a secret compartment in an SUV on I-70 (credit: Mesa Co. Sheriff)

The SUV was pulled over for failure to drive in a single lane, or weaving.

They found 40 vacuum-sealed one pound packages of meth with a street value of $1.8 million.

Daniel Galindo-Gonzalez, and Carlos Colonel-Quintana (credit: Mesa Co. Sheriff)

Daniel Galindo-Gonzalez and Carlos Coronel-Quintana were arrested and booked into the Mesa County Detention Facility on one felony count each of possession with intent to distribute and special circumstances of importing a schedule II drug.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Authorities say what began as a report of possible explosives in a Flagstaff store parking lot ended with a police chase and drug arrest.

Flagstaff police say 53-year-old Berel David Stolworthy of Durango, Colorado, is being held on $250,000 bond.

They say Stolworthy is being held on suspicion of transportation of narcotic drugs for sale, possession of narcotic drugs for sale, possession of dangerous drugs and fleeing from a law enforcement officer.

Police received a report Tuesday of someone in a car leaving four propane tanks in a parking lot.

A bomb squad was called in, but police say nothing suspicious was found.

Officers located the suspect vehicle and a pursuit began before Stolworthy was arrested.

Police say $9,000 worth of marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine was found in the vehicle.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

DURANGO, Colo. (CBS4) – Three people have been arrested after a long-term narcotics investigation in southwestern Colorado.

According to the Southwest Drug Task Force, Salvador Anguiano-Estrada, Stacy Lutz and Raquel Salazar, all of Casa Grande, Arizona, were all arrested in Durango last Friday and Saturday. They are charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.

Salvador Anguiano-Estrada, Stacy Lutz and Raquel Salazar (credit: Southwest Drug Task Force)

The Southwest Drug Task Force called the nine-month investigation “Operation Bad Mule” and had the help of investigators from many different law enforcement agencies.

“The operation targeted a drug trafficking organization distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and heroin in La Plata County … resulting in the seizure of 10 pounds of methamphetamine, seven pounds of heroin, 2.3 ounces of cocaine, $5,100 in cash and two automobiles,” the task force said in a statement.

According the task force, the street value of the seized illegal drugs was estimated at $1,288,000.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – A Wyoming man accused of manslaughter in the death of a missing 13-month-old boy allowed him to be exposed to methamphetamine before the boy died, prosecutors charge.

A criminal complaint released Monday charges Logan Hunter Rogers, 23, of Cheyenne with involuntary manslaughter and child endangering with a controlled substance in the death of Silas Anthony Ojeda of Cheyenne.

Wyoming authorities plan to start searching a landfill in Ault, Colorado, for Ojeda’s body on Tuesday.

Capt. Linda Gesell of the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that her office has secured a search warrant for the landfill and was moving trailers and other resources to the scene.

Rogers remains jailed in Cheyenne with bail set at $500,000 cash. He had a hearing by video camera from a local jail before Circuit Court Judge Denise Nau on Monday afternoon.

Nau told Rogers that conviction on the manslaughter charge could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison while the child endangering charge could carry up to five years.

Rogers said he wants to apply for a public defender to represent him. Nau set a preliminary hearing for Nov. 9, at which she’s scheduled to rule if he should stand trial.

The landfill in Ault (credit: CBS)

Detective Ryan Martinez of the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office made a sworn statement to support the felony charges against Rogers. Martinez’s statement gives the following account:

The boy’s grandfather, Richard Ojeda of Cheyenne, called authorities on Oct. 26 to report his grandson missing.

Rogers, the boyfriend of Ojeda’s mother, Rhiannon Ojeda, on Oct. 26 told investigators that he had turned the boy over to another man on Saturday. He said the man, whom he identified only as “Santiago,” had taken the boy because he intended to take him fishing and camping for a couple of days.

Rogers later told investigators that he hadn’t been honest about “Santiago” taking the boy, but then said members of a motorcycle club had taken him. Rogers then said the boy had died Oct. 20 after falling from a counter at the family home and that Rogers put his body in a trash container at a local community college. Trash from the container goes to Colorado.

Investigators searched the trash container and Rhiannon Ojeda’s vehicle. Two dogs certified to search for the odor of human cadavers alerted to the vehicle and to the trash container.

Investigators talked to Rogers again on Oct. 27. He told them he had taken the boy to a friend’s house on Oct. 20 where people smoked methamphetamine near the boy.

Rogers became concerned that the boy had been exposed to methamphetamine because the boy became hot to the touch. Rogers gave the boy a long bath at his friend’s house before leaving to make methamphetamine deliveries to others.

Martinez concluded his statement by stating he believes Silas Ojeda suffered abuse and died at home. Martinez said he believes that Rogers dumped the boy’s body in a trash container at the community college.

– By BEN NEARY, AP Writer

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

HOLBROOK, Ariz. (AP) – A Colorado man has been arrested in eastern Arizona after authorities say they found 5 ½ pounds of methamphetamine in his vehicle.

Navajo County Sheriff’s officials say 27-year-old Ivan Gamez Sierras, of Pueblo, has been booked into the county jail on suspicion of distribution of dangerous drugs.

It was unclear Monday if he has a lawyer yet.

Sheriff’s officials say Sierras was arrested last Friday after being pulled over for speeding on Interstate 40 in Holbrook.

He gave deputies permission to search his vehicle and they reported finding bricks of methamphetamine in the trunk.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

DENVER (CBS4) – Police in Denver say they discovered a hash oil operation inside a home they initially believed was a methamphetamine lab on Thursday.

Jordan Stone, 26, was arrested for suspicion of extracting the oil at a residence located in the 1800 block of South St. Paul Street near the University of Denver.

(credit: CBS)

(credit: CBS)

Police and fire crews were both there after finding that potentially explosive operation. The home has since been condemned.

What started as a search by the Marijuana Enforcement Division led to a full on hazmat situation. Inside investigators found substances used to make meth along with equipment commonly used to extract marijuana oil.

(credit: CBS)

(credit: CBS)

Melissa Taylor with the Denver Fire Department couldn’t speak specifically about what was found but says in general hash oil operations are extremely dangerous.

“Ignition sources can be literally be like the static off your feet walking into the building,” Taylor said.

(credit: CBS)

(credit: CBS)

Taylor says more often than not fire crews are responding to the aftermath.

Large amounts of butane gas are used to extract the marijuana concentrate, which if not vented properly can lead cause an explosion.

“The force with which they explode has the opportunity to blow houses off foundation, blow veneer off the house, blow the roof off; really significant explosions,” Taylor said.

Stone is out of custody on bond but will be back in court next month.

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) – A jury has convicted a man in the 2015 death of his young cousin.

Roman Morales was found guilty of first-degree murder after a trial that lasted two weeks. The jury took just one day to deliberate. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Roman Morales in Jefferson County Court in September 2015 (credit: CBS)

Morales had recently been released from jail and had a ankle monitoring bracelet at the time. He had been staying with family members in a unit in the Green Gables Condominiums on South Sheridan in Lakewood.

(credit: CBS)

It was just before noon on Sept. 21, 2015 when 2-year-old Donnie Ro’mello Romero was reported missing.

Donnie Ro’mello Romero (credit: CBS)

Court documents reveal the child was found later in a Tupperware-type container under a blanket and pillow inside his family apartment. He had an electrical or audio cord around his neck with marks on the skin and was bleeding.

Morales was the last to see the boy and had left on a bike shortly after Donny was reported missing.

When located, Morales told police he had been asked to watch the boy and told others he wanted give the boy a bath. He said the boy was coughing because swallowed something the wrong way and it was no big deal.

But after Morales was taken into custody police say the following conversation took place with his mother:

Roman: “I was told to do it.”

The mother replied: “He was just a little boy — he was innocent.”

Roman responded: “Don’t do this to me mom”

Witnesses also told police Morales had been a methamphetamine abuser, although they don’t know if he was on drugs at the time.

Roman Morales (credit: CBS)

Others told investigators Morales had started acting strangely after a friend was murdered three years ago, he was depressed and began cutting himself, he believed the FBI and mob were after him and that horns were beeping in codes.

Roman Morales (credit: CBS)

By Matt Kroschel

BASALT, Colo. (CBS4)– Police are warning river users to stay away from any suspicious plastic bottles they find in the Roaring Fork River after dozens of the bottles containing chemicals believed to be used to make methamphetamine were discovered.

Police tell CBS4 eight more bottles were discovered since the local fire department recovered 14 others near Basalt earlier this month.

(credit: Basalt Police)

Police believe the bottles were used in what’s known as the cold cook method of making methamphetamine. The bottles have been covered in duct tape, making them easily recognizable.
Authorities believe there may be more of the bottles in other sections of the river that could be found as people head to the water later this Spring and Summer.

Anyone who encounters suspicious bottles is asked to refrain from touching them and to call the Basalt Police Department 970-927-4316.

Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)– The Garfield County Sheriff is warning residents about “river bottles” washing up on the river banks that could be dangerous.

Over the past week, people living in Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin Counties have encountered a lot of bottles turning up on river banks. The bottles are similar in size to a water bottle but have been mostly encapsulated in duct tape.

A river bottle found in the Roaring Fork River (credit: Basalt Police)

The sheriff says in most cases, the bottles have been filled with a blue or purple liquid and a paper-like substance. The contents of the bottles are corrosive and flammable. The contents are also hazardous to human health.

Authorities believe the bottles were used in what’s known as the cold cook method of making methamphetamine.

Dozens of the bottles have been discovered in the Roaring Fork River near Basalt last month.

The sheriff says to avoid the bottles, don’t touch them or open the bottles. Instead, those who see the bottles are asked to note the location of the bottle and to call authorities.

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (CBS Local) – A Florida woman’s name made for an interesting police report in St. Augustine, particularly since it happened to match the crime she’s accused of committing.

Crystal June Methvin (Photo credit: St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office)

Forty-year-old Crystal Methvin was taken into custody after being charged with possession of crystal meth, according to the St. Augustine Police Department. Methvin was arrested on May 26 after officers got a tip that a woman was sitting in a car on the side of a local highway.

When police arrived, Methvin only had a Florida ID card and didn’t have her driver’s license. As officers searched the car they reportedly discovered crystal meth in a plastic bag in Methvin’s purse.

More unused plastic bags were allegedly found in Methvin’s purse, leading police to believe the suspect was selling the drugs, according to WJAX. The St. Augustine woman faces a third degree felony charge for possession of meth.

She’s being held in jail on $5,000 bond.

Crystal Methvin’s alleged crystal meth was taken by officers as evidence.

By Danielle Chavira

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – A police K9 helped take 113 pounds of methamphetamine off the streets in Adams County on Saturday.

Adams County Sheriff’s deputies stand next to 113 pounds of seized methamphetamine. (credit: Adams County Sheriff’s Office)

The sheriff’s office posted the news on social media saying a deputy stopped a vehicle for speeding near 76th Avenue and Washington Street. While that deputy was writing a citation, officials say he noticed both the driver and passenger appeared nervous.

At that point, a second deputy and his K9, Nacho, responded. Nacho alerted the deputies to the trunk, and that’s where deputies say they found 113 pounds of methamphetamine.

K9 Nacho and his handler Deputy Lopez with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office (credit: CBS)

They say the drugs were stashed in a subwoofer box. The drugs are valued at more than $1 million.

Both the driver and passenger face charges related to distribution of controlled substances.

Officials say this is one of the largest seizures the sheriff’s office has had in a few years.

Danielle Chavira is a digital producer for CBS4. She’s an avid runner and novice flyfisher. Connect with her on Twitter @danielle_c8.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) —  A Bucks County woman is facing charges after authorities say her 11-week-old baby died from a lethal combination of drugs transmitted through her breast milk.

The investigation began on April 2 when the child was found pale, with bloody mucous coming from his nose.

The child’s father told police that he found the baby’s mother, 30-year-old Samantha Whitney Jones, and their son in separate bedrooms around 6 a.m.

(credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)

When the baby started crying Jones asked her husband to prepare a bottle of formula, authorities say.

Jones says after her husband left for work, she fed the baby the formula and put him to sleep around 6:30 a.m.

An hour later, the baby was found pale, bleeding, prompting the mother to perform CPR. The child was later transported to an area hospital when he died around 8:30 a.m.

According to the Bucks County District’s Attorney’s Office, Jones told police she was she had been prescribed methadone because of an addiction to painkillers, that she had taken it during her pregnancy, and that she was taking it at the time of the baby’s death.

According to charging documents, Jones says she had been breastfeeding the baby but had switched to formula three days earlier, saying the infant wasn’t getting enough milk from breastfeeding.

On the morning the child died, Jones says the baby was crying around 3 a.m. and she tried to breastfeed him because she was too tired to go downstairs and prepare a bottle of formula, according to charging documents.

An autopsy found that the baby died from a combination of methadone, amphetamine and methamphetamine, allegedly transmitted through Jones’ breast milk.

Jones is being charged with criminal homicide in connection with her son’s death.

Her bail is set at $3 million cash. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 23.

PHOENIX (CNN/KPHO/KTVK) — A mother and her boyfriend have been arrested after their toddler son ingested fentanyl, methamphetamine, amphetamine, Oxycodone and opiates. The toddler also suffered burns, possibly from a torch used to smoke meth.

The child’s mom, Estella Hernandez, and her boyfriend, Rafael Kagan, face felony charges of child abuse and possession of narcotic drugs.

On August 26, 2018, police officers and firefighters responded to an apartment near Seventh Street and Indian School Road in Phoenix, responding to a call of a child not breathing.

Upon arrival, police learned the 19-month-old boy had possibly ingested the drug Percocet while the child’s mother, Hernandez, and the mother’s boyfriend, Kagan, were sleeping.

According to the police report, emergency crews found the child “unresponsive” and “officers were told someone had administered Narcan to the child. (Narcan is a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in an overdose.)

Officers say they noticed a shelf near the bed containing four while pills and a glass pipe commonly used to smoke meth.

Paramedics transported the boy to Phoenix Children’s Hospital hospital, where, according to the police report, the “toxicology screening was later found to be positive for opiates and amphetamine.”

Further testing revealed the child “tested positive for fentanyl, methamphetamine, Oxycodone and opiates.”

According to the police report, a “nurse stated the child must have ingested a decent quantity of opiates to be as lethargic as he was.”

Police also noticed the little boy had “bruising to his right eyelid and to his middle back and an abrasion by his lower lip.” He also had “red spots under his chin and on his neck.” He also had some healed burns on his arm.

Police believe burns on the boy’s arm were from a torch used with meth.

Police say the boy’s mother, Hernandez, at first told officers one man was the boy’s father and that: “he thinks the child took some Percocet.” Hernandez then told police a second story, that another man was the boy’s father, and that “he was the one with the pills,” according to the police report.

She also told police that the second man administered Narcan to the little boy.

Finally, Hernandez told police that she and her boyfriend, Kagan, had been sleeping and “she woke up to find the child unresponsive.” It was later determined that the couple was passed out.

According to the police report, Hernandez told officers that Kagan “deals Percocet pills.”

And later during a police interview, Hernandez admitted that she, too, sells what she thinks are Percocet pills. She says “she usually puts the pills away after selling them, but last night she did not.”

She also admits she uses heroin and meth.

A search warrant at the apartment revealed an “extensive amount of drugs, drug paraphernalia, money and a scale.”

(The-CNN-Wire & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)

By Jeff Todd

WELD COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) — It’s heralded as a unique kind of treatment center, but for women and their children who make it through the Haven, it’s a life-changing experience.

“When I came to the program I was so broken,” said Crystal Griffin. “To see other women that were in the same situation and trying to change their lives really helped.”

(CBS)

Griffin was nine months pregnant and addicted to methamphetamine when she got to the Haven as part of a Community Corrections sentence for being an accomplice to a murder in Weld County.

(CBS)

“I have a 24-year drug addiction to meth and along the way in my last relapse I had graduated drug court and two weeks later I was in a three and a half year relapse,” said Griffin. “I lost my mind, I didn’t know the difference between what was real and what was fake anymore.”

Griffin entered the Haven, a 40-bed treatment facility focused on pregnant and post-natal women who suffer from drug addictions or mental illness.

(CBS)

The Haven allows moms to stay with their infants but requires a lengthy treatment up to two years.

“When I got here I had to find myself again. And the program teaches you that,” Griffin said. “I couldn’t trust myself so you learn to trust yourself and then you learn to trust these women you’re living with every day.”

“You figure out why you used drugs, you figure out your guilt and your shame because those were my biggest things, my guilt and my shame. From giving up on myself putting my family throughout everything I put them through,” she said.

TOGETHER 4 COLORADO: Latest Stories | Watch ‘Together With Karen Leigh’ | Share A Together 4 Colorado Story Idea With CBS4

Griffin found a mentor early on and relied on the other women in her house. Now, she’s giving back mentoring other women.

“It’s a life changing experience. I’ve turned into a success and I’ve turned into a role model that my peer sisters, peer brothers and my children and my family can look up to,” said Griffin.

(CBS)

Similar success stories will be told at the Friends of the Haven Rising Star Luncheon on Wednesday, September 12.

Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he’s been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) — A Jefferson County jury deliberated only 40 minutes before finding Kansas resident Jose Chavez-Tellez guilty of being in possession of over 14 pounds of methamphetamine.

Jose Chavez Tellez (credit: First Judicial District Attorney)

Chavez-Tellez and his wife, Rhonda Chavez-Tellez, were traveling eastbound though Jefferson County on I-70 when they stopped at a truck stop at Ward Road and 44^th Avenue on Jan. 2.

Rhonda Chavez Tellez (credit: First Judicial District Attorney)

After leaving the truck stop, Chavez-Tellez struck a curb, popping both tires on the passenger side of the vehicle.

A Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy noticed Chavez-Tellez backing eastbound in the westbound lanes of 52^nd avenue with two flat tires, and the deputy stopped Chavez-Tellez to offer aid.

Prosecutors say the deputy found a large amount of methamphetamine in a shopping bag in the back cargo area of the car. There were 14.65 pounds, or 6,644 grams, of methamphetamine divided into 15 baggies.

(credit: First Judicial District Attorney)

The street value of the methamphetamine was approximately $350,000.

Prosecutors say they had driven to Los Angeles to pick up the methamphetamine and were returning to Kansas.

Jose Chavez-Tellez, 48, was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute nearly 15 pounds of methamphetamine. He will be sentenced on Oct. 29 and faces a mandatory minimum of 8 to 32 years in prison.

Rhonda Chavez-Tellez, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to six years in prison.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – A former El Paso County sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to six years in prison for smuggling methamphetamine into jail by having it hidden in food.

Steven D’Agostino (credit: Colorado Springs Police)

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports former El Paso County sheriff’s deputy Steven D’Agostino was sentenced Wednesday. Investigators say the 35-year-old picked up drugs from inmates’ associates and then distributed the contraband at the jail.

The day D’Agostino was arrested, a woman dropped off a chicken meal from KFC for the deputy, and investigators found a balloon containing 7.5 grams of methamphetamine in the mashed potatoes.

(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)– A man in Teller County is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly supplying students with marijuana laced with methamphetamine. John Bruce Fifield, Jr. was arrested on Wednesday.

Fifield Jr., 47, was arrested after a resource officer with the Woodland Park School District contacted the Teller Narcotics Team in the Teller County Sheriff’s Office about the drugs. A search warrant was issued and Fifield Jr. was arrested in what is the Teller Narcotics Team first arrest.

John Bruce Fifield, Jr. (credit: Teller County)

“This is the reason we have School Resource Officers (SRO’s). We enjoy our cooperation with the police department and the sheriff’s office. We are invested in safe schools, so anytime something such as this comes up, we are on it,” said Woodland Park School District superintendent Steve Woolf.

Fifield Jr. has been charged with unlawful distribution, manufacturing, selling illegal narcotics; unlawful possession of a controlled substance; contributing to the delinquency of a minor; child abuse; possessing a dangerous or illegal weapon.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (CBS Local) — A South Dakota woman says faith is helping her cope with unimaginable grief and sorrow.

Kay Odle, 68, is mourning the death of her son, who nearly beat her to death on New Year’s Day in Sioux Falls. And she is still grieving the loss of her husband, Rev. Larry Wayne Odle, who died on Thanksgiving from sudden heart failure.

Kay’s son, Jesse Odle, 40, died in his jail cell Wednesday morning. Authorities say his death appears to be a medical issue and do not think foul play was involved.

Odle was facing 14 charges for beating his mother, Kay Odle, including attempted murder, and was set to appear in court Wednesday.

“I believe in bringing things into the light of day,” Kay told CBS affiliate KELO.

The mother of two is healing from a broken nose, severe bruising, swelling and a brain bleed.

“He was pounding my head into the base of the kitchen table,” Kay said. “I didn’t black out. I almost did a few times, I just prayed and prayed that I wouldn’t because I knew if I did I’d be dead.”

Kay said faith is helping her cope with her near death experience and helping her forgive her son.

“There were points I was looking evil in the face and thought this is how I’m going to die,” Kay said.

That evil, she says, was addiction. Her son started using drugs when he was 14 and Kay’s daughter believes Jesse had a mix of meth and bath salts in his system the day he attacked his mother.

Kay says a minister friend visited him in jail before he died, and told her Jesse was praying.

“And he had asked Jesus into his heart and given his life to Christ. Thank you God. So, I knew Jesse was safe,” Kay said.

There is a GoFundMe account set up to help Kay and her family with medical expenses.