Mom says a ‘voodoo spell’ drove her to kill 3-year-old with bleach, Florida cops say

A “voodoo spell” is cited as the reason a Florida woman forced her two children to drink bleach, killing one and putting the other in a hospital, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators say the children, ages 3 and 8, were victims in a murder-suicide planned and carried out in a parked car.

The 3-year-old was the only one who died — after she was additionally choked by the mother, the sheriff’s office said at a news conference.

Deputies located the three around midnight Sunday, May 8, after tracking the mother’s phone to a church parking lot in Poinciana. The area is about 35 miles southwest of Orlando.

The mom was unconscious in the front seat, the 3-year-old was unconscious in a car seat in the back, and the 8-year-old “was out in the roadway by the entrance to the church,” officials said.

All three were taken to a hospital where the mother and 8-year-old recovered, officials said. The 8-year-old has since been released into the custody of family members, officials said.

Charges had not been filed against the mom as of May 12, while investigators awaited a coroner’s report on what caused the child’s death, officials said. A bottle of bleach and “make-shift drinking glasses” were found in the vehicle, officials said.

The incident happened amid an ongoing search for the mother in connection with attempted murder and aggravated battery charges filed in nearby Orange County, the sheriff’s office said. The identity of the victim has not been released in that case.

“The suspect said the reason for doing this to her children is because the victim in Orange County must have put a voodoo spell on her, making her harm her children,” the sheriff’s office said.

Once autopsy and toxicology results are in, detectives expect to file murder and aggravated child abuse charges in the case, officials said.

This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Mom says a ‘voodoo spell’ drove her to kill 3-year-old with bleach, Florida cops say."