She Laid Down For A Nap As Her Daughter Was Dying – The Story of Cloe Chandler

The Tragic Death of Chloe Chandler: A Mother’s Unthinkable Crime and a Shocking Verdict

Chloe Marie Chandler was born on November 11, 2012, in Marshalltown, Iowa. She was a loving, energetic, and intelligent 5-year-old girl who adored sticker books, riding her bike, sunflowers, and anything the color purple. Unfortunately, her life was cut devastatingly short by the one person meant to protect her: her mother.

Here is the heartbreaking story of Chloe Chandler, the investigation into her death, and the highly controversial legal verdict that followed.

A Fractured Family Dynamic

Chloe was born to Kelsi Thomas and Steven Chandler. Their relationship was highly toxic, and Kelsi alleged that Steven was abusive. The couple split shortly after Chloe’s birth. Kelsi eventually met and married a man named Aaron Thomas, and together they had a son named Phoenix. Because Chloe’s biological father was largely absent from her life, Aaron stepped up to fill that role.

However, friends and family noted a disturbing shift in Kelsi’s behavior after Phoenix was born. She grew increasingly distant from Chloe. According to relatives, Kelsi expressed that Chloe reminded her of her ex, Steven, which caused her to harbor deep resentment—and even hatred—toward the little girl.

The Afternoon of July 19, 2018

On the morning of July 19, 2018, Kelsi went out to run errands with her father, taking baby Phoenix along but leaving Chloe at home with Aaron. Kelsi claimed the 5-year-old was being “wild and out of hand.”

Kelsi returned shortly after noon, at which point Aaron left to detail a friend’s car. Exhausted and facing an upcoming 4:00 PM shift at Casey’s General Store, Kelsi made the children lunch, gave Phoenix a bath, and put both kids down for a nap so she could rest as well.

When Kelsi woke up around 3:17 PM, she called Aaron. Annoyed, she reminded him to come home to watch the kids so she could go to work. Aaron immediately left his friend’s house. Just five minutes later, at 3:22 PM, Kelsi called Aaron again—this time frantic—screaming that Chloe wasn’t breathing.

Kelsi dialed 911, telling the operator she had found Chloe completely unresponsive in her room. When first responders arrived at the home on North James Street, they found the little girl lying on her side in bed. She had vomit on her face and in her hair, with no pulse. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was officially pronounced dead.

The Staged Closet Alibi

Almost immediately, paramedics and doctors knew something was wrong. While performing CPR, they noticed distinct ligature marks around Chloe’s neck.

When questioned, Kelsi offered a bizarre explanation. She claimed that when she went to wake Chloe at 3:20 PM, she found the little girl hanging by her neck from the clothing rod in her bedroom closet. Kelsi theorized that Chloe had been playing and tried to make a swing by tying a pair of pajama pants to the rod, accidentally hanging herself when she slipped her head through.

Kelsi insisted she had untangled Chloe to save her, and that the knot had miraculously untied itself in the process, which was why police found no makeshift noose when they arrived.

The Evidence Doesn’t Add Up

Investigators immediately saw through the lie. The physical evidence made Kelsi’s story entirely impossible:

• The Autopsy: The medical examiner determined the cause of death was non-hanging ligature strangulation, officially ruling it a homicide.

• The Physics: Chloe was far too short to reach the closet rod. There was no stool or object in the closet she could have used for extra height.

• The Knot: While Chloe knew how to tie her shoes, she did not have the manual dexterity or strength to tie a knot tight enough to hold her entire body weight.

• The Fabric: Even if Chloe had managed to hang herself, the combination of her weight, height, and the stretchiness of the pajama pants meant her toes would have easily touched the floor.

• The Scene: There were absolutely no signs of a struggle. A hanging victim would instinctively scratch at their neck or kick the walls, but Chloe’s body lacked defensive scratch marks, and the closet was entirely undisturbed.

Furthermore, investigators learned that Kelsi hadn’t even notified her family that Chloe had died; they only found out when they explicitly asked about the child.

The Chilling Confession

When police brought Kelsi in for questioning, she grew defensive and agitated. For hours, she angrily denied killing her daughter, cursing at detectives and refusing to take accountability.

Finally, she cracked.

Kelsi confessed that she was completely overwhelmed by her responsibilities—working full-time, caring for a sick parent, battling insomnia and depression, and doing the brunt of the childcare. Desperate for a nap that afternoon, she had tried to force Chloe to sleep. When the 5-year-old refused, acting unruly and playing in the sink, Kelsi snapped.

She grabbed a pair of Chloe’s pajama pants, wrapped them around the child’s neck, and forcefully pulled and twisted the fabric. Chloe began to wobble, eventually collapsing to the floor, shaking, kicking, and gasping for air.

Rather than rendering aid, Kelsi callously picked up her dying daughter, dropped her onto the bed, pushed hard on her chest, and told her to “take a nap.” Seeing the sheer terror in Chloe’s wide-open eyes, Kelsi walked out and slammed the door. She then went to sleep. When she woke up hours later, she found Chloe pale, blue-lipped, and dead.

A Shocking Verdict

Kelsi Thomas was charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death.

During her first trial in March 2020, her defense team argued that her confession was coerced and hired a highly paid forensic expert to cast doubt on the autopsy. The prosecution presented her recorded jailhouse confession to her husband and a handwritten apology letter to her family, in which she admitted to the crime and apologized for lying. After three days of deliberation, the jury shockingly acquitted her of child endangerment and deadlocked on the murder charge, resulting in a mistrial.

For her retrial in November 2020, the defense opted for a bench trial, leaving the decision solely up to the judge. The judge ultimately found Kelsi guilty of a lesser charge: involuntary manslaughter.

The judge reasoned that while Kelsi purposely strangled her daughter, she had previously been a “good mother” who was simply exhausted and overwhelmed, lacking the premeditated intent to kill.

Kelsi Thomas was sentenced to just 5 years in prison. Due to the time she had already served while awaiting trial, she was released the exact same day her sentence was handed down.

Aftermath

Chloe’s funeral was held on July 27, 2018, and the little girl was cremated, her memory kept alive by the community that loved her.

Meanwhile, Kelsi Thomas walked completely free. She has since moved on, remarried (now going by the last name Matthuss), and has reportedly had another child—a reality that has left many outraged at a justice system that allowed a mother to violently strangle her 5-year-old to death and serve virtually no prison time.