Two charged with first-degree murder of 3-year-old child

SEMINOLE, Okla. (KXII) - New information has been released in the death of a toddler in Seminole.

According to court documents from the State of Oklahoma, Chad Holden Jennings the father of the child, and his girlfriend Katherine Louise Penner have been charged with first-degree murder of three-year-old Caleb Jennings.

Court documents show that it had been two weeks before the boy’s body was found.

Jennings allegedly confessed to a family friend, Jeffery Coffee, that he had killed the child while disciplining him.

According to court documents, Coffee went to the Seminole Police Department on July 26, 2022 to report the confession. Coffee told police that Jennings’ had confessed to doing something that was an “unforgivable act,” that he had “whooped” the boy two times which caused him to go limp.

According to the documents Jennings’ claimed to have performed CPR on Caleb for two hours, but the couple eventually decided that Caleb was dead. Neither Jennings’ nor Penner called for medical aid to assist the boy.

Penner and Jennings allegedly wrapped the boy’s body up in his own blue blanket and hid him in the master bedroom closet floor for approximately two days before burning the body at Penner’s family property south of Seminole.

Jennings and Penner were arrested on Wednesday after officers conducted a high risk traffic stop, and taken to the Seminole Police Department.