WHITLEY COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Amber Morales Lopez can’t help but break down in tears when talking about the murder of her 4-year-old cousin Chloe Darnell, who authorities believe was killed by members of her own family, before being buried in a shallow grave.
Lopez hadn’t seen Chloe since the summer. September was the last time any family member they’ve spoken with thinks they have seen her, according to Whitley County Sheriff Bill Elliotte.
The toughest part of all this for Lopez is thinking about all the things Chloe will never get.
“Hold your kids tight, love your kids, because Chloe’s not going to get that anymore, Chloe’s gone,” Lopez said, struggling to speak through her pain.
She’s clutching her own daughter tight - unable to let go, thinking about Chloe.
Chloe’s body was discovered around midnight on Friday in the woods beside a cemetery in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest.
The shallow grave remains unfilled.
“There’s nothing that could be more tragic in my mind,” Elliotte said. “The death of this child, the senseless death of this child.”
Chloe’s cousin Brittany Slaughter, who, along with her boyfriend, was charged with her murder, had custody of her.
Lopez remembers calling Slaughter on November 3 to ask to speak to Chloe via video call.
“I asked her ‘Brittany, where’s Chloe? Let me talk to Chloe,” Lopez said - unable to contain her tears, explaining she was told “she’s in her room, she’s playing.”
Brittany would give excuses like that to everyone, both Lopez and Sheriff Elliotte said. Sometimes Slaughter would say she was doing things like sleeping, taking a bath, or at a birthday party.
Relatives only went to authorities this week when it became clear something was off.
“[It’s] kind of like the Casey Anthony case we had in Florida several years ago where it was the mother kept making excuses where the child was at before the family finally reported it,” Sheriff Elliotte said.
Lopez now accepts that Slaughter had been lying to her the whole time.
Slaughter, along with boyfriend Adam Hayes, have been arrested and charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence.
“This is what baffles me,” Lopez said. “Brittany, of all people, we never in our life would have thought she was capable of doing something like this.”
When we asked Elliotte about theories about a potential motive, he would only say Hayes has a criminal record, which includes a conviction for assaulting a child in Tennessee.
The investigation is still ongoing and it’s possible more people could be charged, Elliotte said.
The family is asking people donate to a GoFundMe so they can pay for her funeral. You can donate here.
