Mother Tells TV Network of Stabbing Son to Death

A woman who called the “700 Club” religious TV program to say she “may have killed” her son was still on the line when deputies alerted by the show’s staff arrived to find her 4-year-old dead in her Lancaster home, authorities said Thursday.

Andra Reynolds, 29, stabbed the boy to death and drowned five dogs in a bathtub before calling the show’s crisis line Wednesday night, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives said.

Christian Broadcasting Network spokesman Benton Miller said the ministry’s Virginia Beach, Va., office received Reynolds’ call between 10 and 10:40 p.m. PST. Her call was not broadcast, he said.

“We get literally millions of telephone calls each year and are regularly involved in crisis intervention,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, in this case, the action had already been taken. We kept her on the line and on the other line contacted authorities.”

Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Cox said the woman said “she may have killed her child.” Reynolds apparently identified herself to the show’s staff and may have given her address, Lt. Robert Bouder said.

Reynolds was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder. An arraignment was set for today.

Dead in Bedroom

Bouder said Reynolds’ son, Richard, 4, was found dead in a bedroom in the apartment, the victim of a stabbing. Two small dogs and three puppies were found drowned in the family bathtub, Bouder said.

Investigators and several of Reynolds’ neighbors, contacted Thursday, said the woman was a faithful viewer of religious television programs.

“She was really hooked on these religious shows,” Bouder said.

Cox said deputies had visited the apartment only six hours before the killing was discovered when relatives reported the child might be in danger. However, deputies only found Richard playing happily in a yard.

“They found the apartment to be clean and warm,” Cox said. The mother “seemed calm and cooperative and deputies could find no evidence of any problems in the home.”

One neighbor said the boy’s mother was separated from her husband and had lived in the apartment complex about 50 miles north of Los Angeles for more than two years.