2 teens arrested for murder of mother in Banning Lewis Ranch

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Springs Police Department says two teenagers are now facing murder charges for the death of a 44-year-old woman who was found last week in her Banning Lewis Ranch home.

One of the suspects in the murder had been released on bond for aggravated cruelty to animals because he had homicidal urges and instead killed a cat. The bond was revoked February.

The other suspect, a 16-year-old juvenile, is the daughter of the victim, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KRDO.

CSPD issued a release Monday saying that officers were called to Fallgold Court for a welfare check on an adult woman, but she was found dead inside.

Homicide detectives began investigating and got evidence that led to the arrests of 19-year-old Cohen "Vinn" Heath and 16-year-old Emma Kenner.

The victim was identified as Bridget Kenner of Colorado Springs.

According to an arrest affidavit, Kenner was found dead after a coworker called police for a welfare check because she hadn't shown up for work. When officers arrived, they found her boyfriend banging on the door with no answer.

Officers found Kenner nude in the living room with multiple puncture wounds, and they also found a bloody knife in the kitchen along with bloody clothes in the laundry room in the basement.

Police learned from Kenner's boyfriend that she lived alone with her daughter, Emma.

Police later learned that Emma identifies as a male and calls himself Kenny. At the same time, Cohen identifies as a woman and calls herself Vinn. The two were romantically linked.

Police found Kenny and Vinn at a 7-Eleven about a mile away from the crime scene, and they were taken into custody for questioning.

During the questioning, Kenny had a guardian and biological parent in the room for an interview. When an officer left the room, a recording caught Kenny saying he knew that Bridget was the victim and that she had been stabbed to death, despite police not mentioning anything about a stabbing.

Police also noticed that Kenny had recent wounds that indicated self-harm.

Vinn was interviewed by police and said she was asleep in Kenny's room in the basement when she was woken up by Kenner screaming. Vinn told police that she could hear Kenner pleading with Kenny not to kill her, but Vinn hid in the basement instead of going upstairs.

Vinn told police that Kenner caught Kenny trying to cut himself, and that led to an argument, which escalated to the stabbing. Vinn told police he saw Kenner's body and that Kenny began wiping down doorknobs and counters but eventually gave up and covered Kenner with a blanket. Vinn helped Kenny leave because of someone at the front door, presumably Kenner's boyfriend.

Police learned that the pair planned on leaving town to possibly go to Texas.

Heath had previously been arrested for aggravated cruelty to animals for killing his mother's cat.

We're working on getting more information on this case.