VALRICO, Fla. – A Valrico woman is accused of trying to kill her three young children.
What we know:
According to court documents, Shaniece Willingham, 24, got into an argument over the phone with the father of her three children, ages 3, 2, and 8 months.
As the argument ensued, her mother tried to get her to calm down and encouraged her to get out of the house with the three children.
Willingham allegedly called her children’s father back and told him to pick up the kids and when he refused, she, according to court documents, loaded her children in a wagon and walked them to the community pool while posting a live story on her Instagram page.
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In the video, Willingham was telling everybody this was her “last goodbye, and she could not take it anymore, and also said “she loved her kids so much, but she could not leave them behind because no one can take care of them, and they would be safe with God.”
She then entered the secured pool area by lifting her children over the fences.
While in the pool area, Willingham called her mother on FaceTime, and told her that she loved her before turning the camera around to show her mom that she was at the pool.
Dig deeper:
According to court documents, Willingham sat on the side of the pool and used a rope to tie her and her children together so they could all be bound together after entering the pool.
Records state that neither Willingham nor any of her children knows how to swim.
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When Willingham saw a white SUV pull into the parking lot, court documents state that she “pushed all three children and herself into the pool in an attempt to kill herself and her children.”
Willingham and her children were found submerged in water in the deep end of the pool, which was marked as being six feet deep.
Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
Witnesses told investigators they saw Willingham throw the kids into the pool before she went in.
A witness jumped the locked fences and entered the pool, rescuing the two toddlers and their mother.
Another witness was able to rescue the eight-month-old girl from the water.
Investigators said Willingham admitted to wanting to end her life and kill her children at the same time by using the rope that had been attached to a “life ring” (lifesaving flotation device in the pool area) to tie her and her children to her so they “could all drown together.”
What we don’t know:
It is unclear what, if any, injuries the children suffered.
What’s next:
Willingham has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and a judge ordered her to be held without bond ahead of a pre-trial detention hearing scheduled for Monday.
Willingham also appeared on Thursday afternoon at a child custody hearing from her jail cell. The father of the children, Theo Williams, tried to win custody, saying he was not involved in what happened.
But, attorneys for the children argued he had known about her mental health issues and never tried to stop them from being around her.
“They just said I had knowledge of her mental health,” he told the judge. “I told them I didn’t know. I didn’t know that.”
What you can do:
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay says the incident is a reminder that there are numerous ways to get help when one is facing mental health issues, including the Crisis Center at 211 and the suicide hotline at 998.
The Source: This story was written with information found in court documents. It also includes information from court hearings on Thursday.
