Mom answers charge in daughter’s scissors killing

— A mother accused of killing her 6-year-old daughter with scissors told a Las Vegas judge on Friday that she understands the murder charge against her.

Danielle Yvonne Slaughter appeared confused, however, about whether a mandatory evidence hearing should be held quickly or delayed so she could undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Against the advice of her public defender, Slaughter chose the two-week minimum, and Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure scheduled the preliminary hearing for March 29.

The proceeding will determine whether Slaughter, 27, will stand trial in state court on a charge that could put her in prison for the rest of her life. She is being held without bail in supervised isolation at the Clark County jail.

She was not asked to enter a plea.

Slaughter was hospitalized Sunday after she was found naked, screaming and running through the streets near her northwest Las Vegas home. She told police the blood was from the “lamb of God.”

Her boyfriend, Ashton Lyken, summoned police after finding the child’s lifeless body in a bloody bedroom.

Lyken appeared in court Friday with other friends and family members. They refused to speak with reporters.

Slaughter was jailed early Monday after telling police she hadn’t slept much after beginning to take a caffeinated weight-loss product last week, and she felt an “evil presence” before striking her daughter with scissors. Police say the child died of stab wounds.

Slaughter told police the girl kicked and clawed her, according to a police arrest report, and that the girl spoke “evil words” and laughed “in an evil voice.”

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