Judge rules woman who drove kids into sea was insane

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida judge on Friday found a South Carolina mother who drove her three children into the Atlantic Ocean not guilty of felony child abuse by reason of insanity, authorities said. Ebony Wilkerson, 33, agreed to the plea after prosecutors at the court hearing dropped attempted murder charges, according to the state attorney’s spokesman, Spencer Hathaway. The case was resolved after the prosecutor's own experts agreed with the defense that Wilkerson suffered a mental breakdown in March when she drove her minivan into the surf at Daytona Beach with her children screaming for help in the back, Hathaway confirmed. The incident, caught on a beachgoer’s video, showed Wilkerson trying to fight off rescuers working to save her children, then ages 10, 9 and 3. Circuit Judge Leah Case will decide at a hearing Tuesday whether to send Wilkerson to a state mental hospital or release her under the supervision of mental health counselors. Wilkerson's lawyer, public defender Craig Dyer, declined to comment after the hearing. Dyer in September told Reuters that Wilkerson acted irrationally due to low blood sugar possibly related to her pregnancy. Dyer said the low blood sugar was confirmed by a first responder who tested her within 10 minutes of the incident. Wilkerson’s children were placed in the care of state child welfare workers, and her baby born while she was incarcerated was released to her husband, authorities said at the time. (Editing by David Adams and Doina Chiacu)