April Oliva faces allegations of fatally stabbing her young daughter approximately 40 times.
A Florida grand jury has formally charged a 40-year-old mother with the murder of her 6-year-old daughter, an incident that occurred last month.
The indictment against April Erin Oliva was issued by the Santa Rosa County panel on Monday, according to a report by WEAR.
As reported earlier by CrimeOnline, Oliva was apprehended on February 25 following a disturbing phone call to her sister. During the call, she mentioned “evil spirits” and hinted at a tragic event.
Concerned, Oliva’s sister alerted their father, who hurried to the residence. There, he discovered the front door open and Oliva on the floor with her daughter, both drenched in blood. Oliva reportedly confessed to him, “She’s dead.”
An autopsy later confirmed that Valerie Oliva had sustained around 40 stab wounds inflicted with two knives, while her mother had inflicted wounds on her own neck and stomach. After receiving medical treatment, Oliva was incarcerated in the Santa Rosa County jail.
“The physical evidence showed that the child had approximately forty stab wounds including stab wounds to her heart, kidneys, liver and spleen,” court documents say, according to the Pensacola News Journal. “The child’s throat had been cut and she had numerous cuts to her right hand and arm, consistent with defensive wounds.”
The child’s father was out of town on a business trip, and no one else was at the home at the time of the murder.
Oliva is being held without bond, WEAR said, and her next court date is April 30.
