A Miami judge has ruled that a Florida mother who drowned her toddler and stabbed two family members is not criminally responsible for her actions due to insanity allegedly triggered by Covid-related psychosis.
According to The Post Millennial, 43-year-old Precious Bland was charged after the death of her 15-month-old daughter and the stabbing of her husband and 16-year-old daughter, but was acquitted following a bench trial. Defense attorney Larry Handfield argued that Bland suffered a sudden psychotic break linked to Covid, telling NBC 6 that she had been experiencing command hallucinations instructing her to baptize family members who had also contracted the virus.
On the night of August 23, 2021, Bland reportedly became increasingly frantic inside the familys Miami home, telling relatives that "Jesus Christ is coming and Covid is going to kill us all," according to the arrest report cited by the outlet. Investigators said she insisted that everyone in the home needed to be baptized and declared that she would carry out the ritual in the household bathtub.
Bland allegedly held her 15-month-old daughter underwater in the tub until the child became unresponsive, authorities said. When her husband tried to intervene, a violent struggle ensued, during which Bland is accused of grabbing a knife and stabbing him multiple times.
The husband managed to escape the residence with four of the couples children, but Bland allegedly stabbed her 16-year-old daughter before the teenager could flee. Responding officers found the toddler unresponsive in the bathtub, and she was later pronounced dead at Jackson North Medical Center.
Both the husband and the teen daughter received medical treatment for their injuries and were subsequently released. Miami-Dade Judge Miguel de la O ruled on Tuesday that Bland did not understand the nature or consequences of her actions when she allegedly killed her daughter.
Bland had waived her right to a jury, leading to a bench trial in which Judge de la O acquitted her of multiple criminal charges on insanity grounds. Handfield told the outlet he believes this is the first successful Covid-related insanity defense in the United States, contending that a small subset of Covid patients can experience paranoia and suicidal ideation, and describing Blands state as temporary insanity.
Bland is scheduled for an assessment hearing at a later date, when Judge de la O will decide whether she must be committed or receive further mental health treatment. The case, hinging on a novel Covid-based insanity claim, raises serious questions about personal responsibility, public safety, and how far the justice system should go in accepting pandemic-related defenses when a childs life has been taken and a family left shattered.
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