Ebony Wilkerson: Bail Set At $1.2 Million

Ebony Wilkerson, the pregnant mother who drove her kids into the ocean, has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and child abuse. New reports state that Wilkerson’s bail has been set at $1.2 million.

According to Time, on Friday, Ebony Wilkerson was charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder and child abuse with great harm. As of Saturday, the South Carolina mother’s bail was set at $1.2 million dollars.

According to an earlier report by The Inquisitr, Daytona Beach police received a disturbing call Tuesday with a report that someone was trying to drive into the ocean at a nearby beach. Earlier reports stated that witnesses had seen Wilkerson driving her minivan into the ocean while her children yelled and waved at them through partly open windows.

A tourist’s video had captured lifeguards and bystanders rushing to help pull the three children and Wilkerson, 32, from the car according to Yahoo. Wilkerson reportedly had put up a struggle against those trying to pull her from the car, but they managed to pull her and her three kids, ages three, nine and 10 from the car before a large wave nearly knocked the vehicle out to sea.

Authorities stated that Ebony had struggled with her nine-year-old son for control of the wheel before driving into the ocean. According to WCBD, Ebony Wilkerson had told her three kids to “close their eyes and go to sleep.” Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators later learned that Wilkerson insisted she was taking herself, her unborn child, and her three kids to “a safer place.”

According to The Inquisitr, Wilkerson told officers that she was worried her husband was coming to Florida to harm her and the children after a previous altercation. Police reportedly had stopped Ebony before she attempted to drive off into the ocean, and while the officer said that she looked like she suffered from some mental illness, “she did not fit the criteria for going into custody under the Baker Act.”

Family reportedly said that Wilkerson had been talking about demons just before she attempted to drive the van into the ocean. It was these allegations that led investigators to believe that Wilkerson may not have been lucid at the time of her actions.

According to WCBD, after an investigation, Daytona police determined that Wilkerson’s actions were intentional and designed to kill her children. It was at that point she was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder and child abuse with great harm.

[Images via Shutterstock/txking]