Woman accused of trying to kill autistic daughter is jailed without bail in N. Michigan

BEULAH, Mich. – A woman accused of trying to kill her autistic daughter in a murder-suicide is locked up without bail in a northern Michigan jail.

Kelli Stapleton appeared in a Benzie County court Thursday after being released from a hospital. She's charged with attempted murder. State police say Stapleton and her 14-year-old daughter Isabelle were found unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning in a van Tuesday.

Stapleton's husband, Matt, says their daughter is in a critical care unit at a Grand Rapids hospital.

The Stapletons live in Elberta, west of Traverse City. Kelli Stapleton has written about Isabelle's severe autism on a blog called The Status Woe. In an entry dated Tuesday, she says she has a "severe case of battle fatigue."

Defense attorney Anthony Cicchelli declined to comment Friday.