Mother says demon took over before she drowned son, police report indicates

By Brian Nordli

Published Sunday, March 9, 2014 | 4:26 p.m.

Updated Monday, March 10, 2014 | 3:50 p.m.

Christine Allen claimed the voices in her head told her to drown her son, Metro Police say.

Allen, 30, Las Vegas, had been lying on her bed Saturday, depressed, while her son Noah Lane Allen, 3, was taking a bath.

Then, Allen told police, it “was like a demon inside of me took over.” She went into the bathroom and asked her son if he wanted to go swimming. At first the boy answered yes. Allen then got into the tub and held her son’s head under water, according to a Metro Police arrest report released today. The boy struggled to get his head above water and told his mother he didn’t want to go swimming, but Allen pushed the boy’s head back under the surface.

Allen was booked on Saturday into Clark County Detention Center on one count of open murder in her son’s drowning. Clark County prosecutors today charged her with murder.

According to the arrest report, Allen told police she suffered from depression and was getting evicted from her apartment at the time. She was also divorced from her husband, who was not offering any support in raising her son.

She told Metro homicide detectives that drowning her son was the only thing she could do because of the voices in her head. She said she felt she thought Noah would be better off with God, rather than part of a split family, the report said.

Emergency responders arrived about 6:15 p.m. to her apartment in the 7800 block of Clarkdale Drive, near Buffalo and Vegas drives, after Allen reported that her son had drowned. The 911 operator instructed Allen to take her son out of the tub to start CPR, but Allen refused saying it was too late, the report said.

Noah was found unresponsive and transported to Summerlin Hospital, where he died.

Allen is scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge on Wednesday in Las Vegas Township Justice Court.

Metro urges anyone with information regarding the crime to contact Metro Homicide at 828-3521, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or visit www.crimestoppersofnv.com.