Nellis mom charged in death of newborn

Keith Paul

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

A Nellis Air Force Base airman was charged this morning with murder more than three months after her newborn girl was found dead in a plastic bag in a closet of her North Las Vegas apartment.

North Las Vegas Police arrested Senior Airman Candice Kitto, 23, this morning at the Air Force base on first-degree murder charges, police spokesman Lt. Chris Larotonda said.

She was held today in the North Las Vegas Detention Center without bond.

The baby was found late Dec. 9 in the North Las Vegas home of Kitto and her husband, Senior Airman Kenneth Kitto, dead in a garbage bag that had been tied closed.

"We can prove the child was born healthy and was killed," Larotonda said.

"If we thought this was an accident, we would not have pursued criminal charges, but we believe this was more than just an accidental death."

An autopsy determined the child died from suffocation, and police ruled out natural causes or birth defects through toxicology and testing of tissue samples, he said.

The investigation began after Candice Kitto called the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital Dec. 9 complaining of an illness. An ambulance was sent to her apartment in the 4700 block of Lawrence Street. Paramedics took her to the hospital after noticing she had lost a lot of blood, according to a police report.

"She was seen by two doctors and one of the doctors -- since it was obvious to the doctor she had recently given birth -- asked her where the baby was," Larotonda said. "She replied the baby was in the closet."

Nellis Air Force Base police, an ambulance crew and a nurse from the base hospital went to Kitto's home. Kitto's husband was there and gave them permission to look for the newborn, Larotonda said.

"They looked in the closet and found the child in a plastic garbage bag," Larotonda said.

Kitto told police that night she didn't know that she was pregnant. Kenneth Kitto, who was not charged in the case, also told investigators he didn't know of his wife's pregnancy, Larotonda said.

Kitto would not speak with investigators since the night her baby was found dead, but detectives interviewed several family members and collected evidence from the couple's apartment.

Detectives said waiting for autopsy and laboratory results caused the more than three-month delay in filing the charges, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Douglas Herndon said.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Kitto could be eligible for the death penalty because the child was under age 14, but prosecutors likely will not seek the death penalty in this matter, Herndon said.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Kitto would face a life prison term with or without the possibility of parole, he said.

The Air Force will negotiate with the Clark County District Attorney's Office to determine who will prosecute the case, said Mike Estrada, a Nellis Air Force Base spokesman.

Keith Paul

covers crime and public safety for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4057 or by e-mail at keith@lasvegassun.com.