OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – An Osceola County mother who forced her children to drink bleach and strangled her 3-year-old to death in 2022 was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, court records show.
Joanne Zephir was arrested in 2022 after deputies found her forcing her two children, who were 3 and 8 at the time, to drink bleach outside a Poinciana church and then trying to kill herself, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
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The toddler was found unconscious in the vehicle and later died at the hospital, deputies said.
Court documents show Zephir pleaded guilty to first-degree murder (with a weapon) and attempted first-degree murder (with a weapon).
Prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty against Zephir in April 2024 after an Osceola County grand jury indicted Zephir for first-degree murder with a weapon in February. However, court documents show they are no longer pursuing the death penalty.
Zephir told deputies that someone must have put a “vodoo spell” on her to make her harm the children.
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