Mom Who Drove Minivan With Children Into Water Spoke About Demons, Sister Says (PHOTO)
The pregnant mother who drove her minivan and three children into the water reportedly spoke of demons, her sister told authorities. The woman and her children were rescued by good Samaritans, and she is now hospitalized for mental evaluation.
"She's talking about Jesus, that there's demons in the house," Ebony Wilkerson's sister told police in a phone call. "She's got the kids in the car with her."
The police spoke with Wilkerson and determined that there was no reason to hold her or take the children into protective custody.
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"When we spoke with her she was lucid," Police Chief Mike Chitwood said. "The children were in the back seat – they were buckled in and were not in distress. Although the sergeant said she looked like she had some mental illness, she did not fit the criteria for going into custody under the Baker Act."
Once Wilkerson drover her vehicle into the water, several witnesses sprang into action to help rescue the driver and then her children. What they saw, they said, was horrifying.
"The son was snatching at the wheel, trying to get her to come back toward the shore and I was asking, I was like, 'What is going on, why are you driving on the water?'" Stacy Robinson told ABC News. "I said, 'You're going to get in trouble … you're not supposed to be doing this.' All she repeated is, 'OK, we are OK, we are OK.'"
"I was like, 'You've got to get out of the water. You're going to get in trouble. You got kids. You're scaring them. They're crying.' And she said, she was like, 'OK,' as though she was coming back out of the water and took off. She sped off," Robinson said.
Luckily, one of the windows was cracked open, and Robinson was able to get in and grab the boy and the little girl. Then he was able to get the baby out of the car as well. By that point, other people noticed what was happening and helped get the final child and the mother from the sinking car.
"I saw a child hanging out the window, waving his hands screaming, 'help us, help us,'" Taylor Quintin said. "The kids started screaming, 'There's a baby in the car' and that's when another bystander ran in to get the toddler … I heard one kid say, 'Why did she do this?'"
Wilkerson has been hospitalized and is undergoing a psychological evaluation. The children have been removed from her care and are in the custody of child protective services. No charges have been filed against Wilkerson.
