An American woman accused of murdering two of her children is fighting her extradition in a London court

LONDON (AP) — An American woman accused of murdering her two youngest children in Colorado last December told her 11-year-old daughter, who survived the attack, that God made her do it, a prosecutor told a London court.

The girl begged for her life after Kimberlee Singler stabbed her in the neck and cut her again despite the child's pleas for mercy, said prosecutor Joel Smith.

The shocking details came to light as Singler fought extradition to the United States at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Singler denies attacking her children and is concerned that her daughter's statement to police was coerced, defense attorney Edward Fitzgerald said.

Singler should not be extradited from Britain because if she is convicted of premeditated murder in the US state of Colorado, where the murders took place, she faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole – a sentence that violates European human rights law, Fitzgerald argued on Friday.

The 36-year-old single woman is accused of two counts of premeditated murder in connection with the shooting and stabbing of her nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son. She is also accused of attempted murder because she injured her older daughter with a knife.

Since the children were under the age of twelve, she faces further charges, including assault.

Fitzgerald, who represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in his long battle to be extradited to the United States on espionage charges, argued that a life sentence without parole would be inhumane because it offered no prospect of release even in the event of rehabilitation.

Even if the governor of Colorado could possibly commute the sentence to a lesser one, that would be tantamount to “political suicide,” Fitzgerald said, citing experts who said such a thing had never happened before.

“In Colorado, because of history and political reality, there is no realistic prospect of release, no matter what progress is made,” Fitzgerald said. “No matter how bad the crime, there should be a chance of release.”

As Fitzgerald concluded his argument, Smith stood up and said he had become aware of evidence that former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper commuted the first-degree murder sentences of six men in 2018.

Judge John Zani then adjourned the three-day hearing until December 2 “in light of potentially important information” to give lawyers the opportunity to confirm a news report about the sentence commutations and present further arguments.

Singler, who is in custody, sat in the dock and simply said that she understood why the hearing was being continued.

The hearing focused primarily on the legal issues surrounding extradition.

On Wednesday, Smith provided new details in his opening speech.

He said that at the time of the murders, Singler was involved in a custody battle with her ex-husband, Kevin Wentz. He had been granted more time with the children and she had been ordered to release them to him from Dec. 16 to Dec. 31, but she had failed to do so.

Shortly after midnight on December 19, Singler made a 911 call to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Officers found the two youngest children, Aden Wentz, 7, and Elianna “Ellie” Wentz, 9, dead in bed in their apartment. They had been shot and stabbed, Smith said.

Singler's older daughter, identified in court records only by her initials MW, suffered severe injuries with numerous cuts to her neck.

Singler, who had superficial stab wounds, was initially thought to be the victim of an alleged burglary, police said.

“She later told police that she woke up on December 18 feeling 'weird' and 'dazed' and that the children also seemed sleepy,” Smith said. “She said she suspected her former partner (the children's father) of killing them or arranging their killing. She said a 'dark figure' entered her apartment and that she fainted.”

Singler's ex-husband, however, had a solid alibi, Smith said. He was driving a truck that was tracked by GPS.

The daughter, who survived the attack, initially told police that a man had entered her home through the patio and attacked her. But after she recovered from her injuries and was placed in foster care, she told a caregiver that her mother was responsible and asked her to lie to police.

The girl said Singler gave the children milk with a powdered medicine to drink and told them to close their eyes while she led them into one of the children's rooms, Smith said.

Singler slit her throat and when the girl begged her to stop, she hit her again, Smith said. The girl said her mother had a gun.

“The defendant told her that God had commanded her to do it and that the children's father would take them away from her,” Smith said.

A blood-stained gun and a bloody knife were found, along with bullets and cartridge cases. DNA tests on the weapons revealed a mixture of blood that matched that of the children and their mother. An empty bottle of sleeping pills was also found in the house.

After her daughter changed her statement, police tried to arrest Singler in Colorado on December 26, but she had fled abroad. Four days later, she was caught in the upscale Chelsea district of London.