A Florida mother is accused of trying to kill her four children by slamming a minivan into a palm tree after accelerating to “a high rate of speed.”
Calicia Williams was charged with four counts of attempted murder after Ocala police said she deliberately crashed a white Pontiac minivan with her four children inside. Investigators determined by tire marks that the vehicle was steered directly toward the tree after jumping a curb and plowing through a grass median.
Investigators also found that none of the children, ages 7 to 13, were wearing their seatbelts, an Ocala police statement said.
One of the children later told police Williams told them to remove their restraints just before crashing,
The children told officers that before they crashed, she told them, “The devil can’t hurt you, he only hurts bad people. You have the light of Jesus in you and only Jesus can cure us.”
The four children were all treated at local hospitals, but their conditions were not known, police said Thursday. The passenger side of the car was severely damaged, police said.
While they were being treated, “Williams was observed making spontaneous utterances,” police said. She told them that her husband caused the crash by putting a hex on her.
Williams was expected to be booked at the Marion County Jail following medical release, according to police. Authorities requested that she be held without bond. It was unclear if she has an attorney.
Associated Press contributed.
