Florida Mother Accused of Trying to Drown Her Three Children After Livestreaming ‘Last Goodbye’
VALRICO, FL — A 24-year-old Florida mother is facing multiple charges after prosecutors say she livestreamed a “last goodbye” before tying herself to her three children and hurling them into the deep end of a community pool in an attempt to kill them all.
‘Last Goodbye’ on Instagram
According to court documents filed by the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, Shaniece Willingham posted an Instagram Live story early Wednesday morning, telling friends and family she “could not take it anymore” and loved her children but “could not leave them behind because no one can take care of them, and they would be safe with God.”
The video showed Willingham loading her children — ages 3, 2, and 8 months — into a wagon and walking them to a pool on Sacramento Street in Valrico.
Family’s Quick Intervention
Relatives who saw the livestream rushed to the scene and called 911. Deputies arrived around 1:30 a.m. to find Willingham and her children alive after being pulled from the pool by family members.
According to a motion for pretrial detention, Willingham had earlier fought with her mother and was upset the children’s father refused to pick them up after she was asked to leave her mom’s house.
Before pushing them in, she allegedly FaceTimed her mother to say she loved her and turned the camera to show she was at the pool.
Rope and Life Ring Used
Prosecutors say Willingham sat at the side of the pool and used a rope attached to a lifesaving flotation device to bind her and her children together “so they could all drown together.”
None of them could swim. She then pushed herself and all three children into the 6-foot deep end of the pool.
While speaking to investigators later, Willingham allegedly admitted to “wanting to end her life and kill her children at the same time.”
Charges and Detention
Willingham has been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and is being held without bond at the Hillsborough County Jail pending a Sept. 29 pretrial detention hearing.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister condemned the act in a statement:
“This incident is nothing short of horrific. 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. 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.”
The children are now safe with relatives as the case moves forward in court.
Stay with ChicagoMusicGuide.com for updates on this case and other major child protection news in Florida.