Mom livestreams before trying to kill herself and 3 kids: DA
Share this @internewscast.com

Shaniece Willingham (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office).

A Florida mother allegedly attempted to drown herself and her three children in the deep end of a community pool — binding them all together and throwing them into the water — in what prosecutors describe as an effort “to end her life and kill her children at the same time.”

Shaniece Willingham, aged 24, is facing charges after she purportedly made the attempted filicide early on Wednesday morning, following a “last goodbye” message to friends and family via an Instagram livestream, as noted in court documents. Her children are ages 3, 2, and 8 months.

Court documents state, “The defendant loaded her children in a wagon and walked them to the community pool while posting a live story on her Instagram page.”

The documents further allege, “In the video, the defendant was telling everybody this was her ‘last goodbye, and she could not take it anymore.’ [Willingham] also expressed ‘she loved her kids so much, but she could not leave them behind because no one can take care of them, and they would be safe with God.'”

Relatives reportedly hurried to a pool on Sacramento Street in Valrico after seeing her social media broadcast, which led prosecutors to say that the video prompted the family’s quick response. Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies responded at approximately 1:30 a.m. and discovered Willingham and her children still alive after being rescued from the pool by family members, according to a motion for pretrial detention.

Prosecutors explain that Willingham had an altercation with her mother earlier that evening and was reportedly upset because the children’s father refused to collect her and their kids after she was asked to leave her mother’s home.

“[The father] said he doesn’t give a f— and he ‘ain’t doing anything,'” the motion for pretrial detention alleges. “At this point, the defendant loaded her children in a wagon and walked them to the community pool.”

Before tying her children up, Willingham allegedly called her mother on FaceTime and “told her that she loved her,” according to prosecutors. “The defendant then turned the camera around to show her mother that she was at the pool,” the detention motion says.

“The defendant sat on the side of the pool and used a rope to tie her and her children together so they could all be bound together after entering the pool,” the document alleges, noting how “neither the defendant nor any of the three victims” knew how to swim.

“[Willingham] pushed all three children and herself into the pool in an attempt to kill herself and her children,” prosecutors said. “The defendant and her children were located in the deep end of the pool, which was marked on the side as 6 feet deep.”

While speaking to cops after the incident, Willingham allegedly admitted to “wanting to end her life and kill her children at the same time,” according to prosecutors. She confessed to using a rope that had been attached to a “Life ring” — described by prosecutors as a “lifesaving flotation device in the pool area” — to tie her and her children to her “so they could all drown together.”

Willingham is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, and was ordered to be held Thursday without bond. She has a pretrial detention hearing scheduled for Sept 29.

“This incident is nothing short of horrific,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister in a statement Thursday. “The fear and betrayal these innocent children must have felt, at the hands of the one person meant to love, care for, and protect them, is unimaginable,” Chronister blasted. “This decision was not a cry for help, it was a deliberate act of cruelty. … There is no excuse, no justification. These children were failed by their own mother, and it is only by the quick actions of their family that they are alive today.”

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Unbelievable Jailhouse Romance: Man’s Bold Scheme to Reunite with Girlfriend Behind Bars

Inset left: Aaron Oldham (Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office). Inset right: Christine Hillier…

Jared Fogle’s Surprising Prison Life: How the Former Subway Spokesman is Spending His Time Behind Bars

Jared Fogle, once the face of Subway, asserts that he was misled…

Probationary Teenager Faces Charges for Alleged Preschooler Molestation

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a troubling development, 19-year-old Devin Christopher…

Suspect Claims Police Responsible for Deadly High-Speed Pursuit

Inset left: Donald Wayne Rownan (Washington Department of Corrections). Inset right: Paola…

Self-Proclaimed ‘Savage’ Sentenced for Gruesome Dismemberment of Teacher

Left: Harold Francis Landon III (Prince George”s County police). Right: Mariame Toure…

Police Report Reveals Severe Malnourishment of New Mother’s Twin Infants

Background: The Panama City, Fla., neighborhood where Hailey Smith lived with her…

Maryland Man Sentenced for Gruesome Murder of Cherished Teacher

A Maryland resident found guilty of murdering and dismembering a second-grade educator…

Police Investigate Allegations of Pre-K Teacher’s Physical Misconduct Towards Children

Background: Claxton Elementary School in Claxton, Georgia (Evans County Schools). Inset left:…

Family Shares Emotional Struggles of Melbourne Stabbing Survivor Afraid to Go Out in Public

The family of a woman who was reportedly stabbed in an unprovoked…

Unveiling the Chilling Pursuit: How a Suspect Trailed Kada Scott Before Her Mysterious Disappearance

A Pennsylvania man implicated in the disappearance of a local woman will…

Police Report: Daughter Allegedly Kills Mother with Rock in Shocking Incident

Inset left to right: Lauren Spors (Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The…

Shocking Revelations: Kada Scott’s Alleged Abductor Linked to Another Chilling Assault

A man facing charges related to the kidnapping of a Pennsylvania woman…