- Florida prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a mother who forced her children, ages three and eight, to drink bleach.
- Joanne Zephir strangled her three-year-old daughter to death after stabbing her husband and making her daughters drink bleach, according to prosecutors.
- The 39-year-old woman, who claimed to be under the influence of a “voodoo spell,” will stand trial for first-degree murder with a weapon starting May 7.
Florida prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a mother who forced her young daughters to drink bleach before strangling one to death, the State Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
Joanne Zephir was found unconscious in a car with her three-year-old daughter and eight-year-old daughter nearby on the road near a church in Poinciana County on Mother’s Day 2022.
Zephir, 38, had forced his daughters to drink bleach from a glass before strangling them.
The three-year-old died and the eight-year-old survived after being rushed to a local hospital.
Zephir told officers after her arrest that she was under the influence of a “voodoo” spell that had led her to harm her children. Fox 10 reported.
Joanne Zephir, 38, strangled her three-year-old daughter after stabbing her husband and making her daughters drink bleach.
Sheriff Marcos López revealed that Zephir claimed she was under a ‘voodoo’ spell that made her attack her children
The mother was already facing an arrest warrant for attempted murder at the time after her husband, who also survived, was stabbed.
According to a press conference held by Sheriff Marcos López in May 2022, Zephir told a family member that she was going to turn herself in to authorities for stabbing her husband, but that she wanted to spend time with her children first.
Several hours later he called the relative and told him that he had killed his three-year-old daughter, that the eight-year-old daughter was also going to die and that she would also commit suicide. according to the sheriff.
According to court records, the 38-year-old man was declared psychologically competent to stand trial in December after an evaluation.
The 38-year-old was declared psychologically competent to stand trial in December after an evaluation.
A grand jury indicted her in February on charges of first-degree murder with a weapon, a capital crime with the option of seeking the death penalty, the State Attorney’s office said.
The office said the decision to seek the harshest punishment was based on several factors, including that Zephir had custody of the victim and that the victim was under the age of twelve.
She has also been charged with attempted first-degree murder with a weapon and attempted felony murder with a weapon.
Zephir will be tried in Florida starting May 7. reported the Orlando Sentinel.