A Florida mother tried to kill her four children by crashing her car into a palm tree because she thought she was cursed, the Ocala Times reports.
Ocala Police Department spokeswoman Corie Byrd said that first responders arrived at the scene to find Calicia Williams' mangled Pontiac minivan. Williams appeared frustrated by the crash when she spoke with police.
Byrd said that the children—three girls and one boy—were allegedly told by Williams to unfasten their seatbelts and stretch their hands forward before the crash. Investigators believe that Williams kept on her seatbelt based on the bruising she suffered. Also, there was no evidence of her trying to swerve or brake to prevent the crash. The children reportedly yelled for Williams to slow down, but she responded by saying, "The devil can't hurt you, he only hurts bad people. You have the light of Jesus in you and only Jesus can cure us."
"She made some utterances about a hex from her husband and that's what made her crash, but we really don't know the way at this point," Byrd said. "Based on [an investigator's] findings, he was able to determine there were no brake marks, and based on some of the scuff marks and tire tracks in the median, you can tell she was steering directly toward the palm tree."
The children were treated for trauma at Gainesville's UF Health Shands Hospital. Williams is currently facing four counts of attempted murder. Once she's discharged from the hospital, she will be held at the Marion County Jail without bail.
"These kids are very, very lucky to be alive," Byrd said. "It makes you want to hold your kids tight, and it's unfathomable why a mother would want to do this. Hopefully, this mother gets the help that she needs and the kids get the help that they need."
