An eight-year-old girl has revealed her toddler sister’s heartbreaking reaction when their mother allegedly demanded they drink bleach.
Joanne Zephir was found unconscious in her car with her daughters, ages three and eight, on May 8, 2022, after allegedly forcing the children to drink bleach mixed with milk.
Zephir’s eight-year-old surviving daughter has since revealed that her sister had called the mixture “dirty” before she was brutally strangled and died, reported Law & Crime.
She told investigators she drank three large sips before vomiting, described it as having a bad smell, like pickles, and said it burned her tongue, according to documents.
“Joanne told her that the milk was good for her and that she should drink it, and then allowed the three-year-old to drink about half of the bottle of milk,” officials said.
The daughter told investigators that their mother picked up the two girls from their aunt’s house and drove them to the parking lot where they were found.
The mother was already facing an arrest warrant for attempted murder after her husband, who also survived, was stabbed, police said. Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Joanne Zephir, 38, allegedly strangled her three-year-old daughter after stabbing her husband and making her daughters drink bleach
Sheriff Marcos Lopez revealed that Zephir claimed she was under a ‘voo-doo’ spell that caused her to attack her children
According to a press conference held by Sheriff Marcos Lopez in May 2022, Zephir told a family member that she was going to turn herself in to authorities for stabbing her husband, but she wanted to spend time with her children first.
Several hours later, she called the relative and told them she had killed her 3-year-old daughter, that the 8-year-old daughter would also die and that she would also commit suicide, police said. Sheriff.
“Joanne advised that she drank a significant amount of bleach in an attempt to commit suicide,” they wrote, Law & Crime reported.
She was found in the driver’s seat of the car, lethargic and drooling from the mouth, while the three-year-old was found unconscious in the backseat.
Zephir was subsequently hospitalized and seen on bodycam footage being driven to the sheriff’s car.
She was questioned and told officers she was under the influence of a “voo-doo” spell that caused her to harm her children. Fox10 reported.
Zephir was indicted by a grand jury in February on charges of first-degree murder with a weapon, a capital crime with the possibility of the death penalty, the prosecutor’s office said.
Zephir was seen on bodycam footage being driven from the hospital to the sheriff’s car before being taken in for questioning following the horrific death of her three-year-old son.
Just hours after telling a family member that she would turn herself in for her husband’s stabbing, she called and told them that she had killed her three-year-old daughter, that the eight-year-old girl would die and that she would kill herself.
The agency said the decision to seek the harshest sentence was based on several factors, including that Zephir had custody of the victim and that the victim was under the age of 12.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for her, although they have offered a plea deal.
She recently attempted to replace her attorney, but it was determined that she was “given ineffective counsel.”
Her attorney, Junior Barrett, works for the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel.
Zephir will stand trial in Florida starting May 7 Orlando Sentinel reported.