An Oregon mother appeared in court Monday on charges that she killed her 3-year-old daughter.
Police who pulled over Rebekah Gasperino for a traffic violation early Saturday morning said they learned as they spoke with her that “she may be a danger to herself or others” and immediately dispatched officers to check on the well-being of her daughter, Sophia.
The officers who responded to the home found Sophia’s body, KATU reported. Police have not said how the girl died, but prosecutors said in court Monday that Gasperino, 32, admitted killing her daughter.
Court documents reveal that Gasperino and the girl’s father have been battling over custody for the last 18 months. The father filed for an order of immediate danger in the fall of 2020 and again earlier this month, but both times a judge determined the child was not in immediate danger.
In a March 23 protective action plan, the Department of Human Services said that “Rebekah has a spiritual vision in which Sophia is dead and she is unsure how Sophia is killed in her vision,” the Albany Democrat-Herald reported. That plan was included in the most recent filing by the baby’s father for an order of immediate danger, which was dismissed on April 1.
Gasperino has been charged with first degree murder, aggravated murder, unlawful use of a weapon/aggravated assault, and criminal mistreatment and ordered held without bail, according to jail records. She’ll return to court on May 9.
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[Featured image: Rebekah Gasperino/Facebook]
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