October 06, 2026
Pueblo mom found guilty of first-degree murder in death of 3-year-old son
Headline card: The Night Desk
Pueblo mom found guilty of first-degree murder in death of 3-year-old son
PUEBLO, Colo. — A Pueblo woman was found guilty Oct. 6 of killing her 3-year-old son.
Following a three-week jury trial, Samantha Kimberly was convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse in the June 8, 2024, death of the toddler. The jury deliberated for an afternoon and a morning before returning guilty verdicts on all counts.
Her own words
The prosecution's case leaned heavily on photographs, testimony from Kimberly's 14-year-old son, and Kimberly's own statements to investigators. District Attorney Kala Beauvais highlighted her admissions during closing arguments:
Kimberly told investigators she had "lost control" and was "wailing on" her son the day that he died.
"All I can give you is a list of excuses — there's no reason I should have done it."
When investigators informed Kimberly that her son had died and asked her what that meant, she responded: "Murder. I killed him."
Months of abuse
Her 14-year-old son testified that Kimberly and her co-defendant, Brittany Farmer — who was sentenced to 45 years in prison in December 2025 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder — forced the two boys to walk around the living room for hours with minimal breaks and barely any water.
The beatings, he said, progressed from a bare hand, to a slipper, to the backside of a belt, and finally the buckle end of the belt. The toddler was covered head to toe in bruises — "more skin area bruised than not." The 14-year-old's bruises appeared only where clothing would hide them, since he was in school.
Texts between Kimberly and Farmer told the same story in the days before the fatal injury. Two days before, Kimberly wrote: "he needs it, and I need it, I want them to respect me." She added that if anyone saw the 3-year-old, "he's gone, and I'm behind bars," and told Farmer she had "missed her calling as a professional torturer." A day before the toddler died, she texted that she "hopes we aren't giving him brain damage."
The day of the toddler's death, Kimberly texted she was concerned about her son's breathing — then wrote she was "thinking of saying he fell down the stairs." Farmer replied to call for help but warned law enforcement wouldn't buy the stairs story. During the 911 call, Kimberly did claim the child had fallen down the stairs, adding: "when you look at him it's not going to look believable."
Defense blamed the co-defendant
Public defender Carter Vaden painted Farmer as the main perpetrator, arguing the head injury that killed the toddler could have come from Farmer's hard-soled slipper — not Kimberly's belt. The jury rejected the argument.
Sentencing Oct. 26
Kimberly will be sentenced on Oct. 26 on all charges. The DA's office and the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office both praised the verdict, with Sheriff David Lucero saying his detectives' "tireless work" ensured "a successful pursuit of justice."
Source: The Pueblo Chieftain — read the original report
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