The South Carolina woman who drove her van into the Atlantic Ocean off Daytona Beach three years ago with her children inside will ask to be released from a Florida mental hospital.
Ebony Wilkerson, 36, has a hearing next week on whether she can be released with certain conditions.
Wilkerson has been in the care of the state since attempted murder charges against her were dropped.
One thing the judge in next week’s hearing must grapple with are two psychiatric examinations of Wilkerson came to different conclusions about her readiness for the outside world.
One doctor said she should continue to be “involuntarily” committed, while the other said she should not.
While at a residential treatment center, Wilkerson stopped taking medication and suffered a psychotic breakdown, causing her to run into oncoming traffic.
Wilkerson was pregnant when she drove her van into the ocean with two girls ages 10 and 3, and a boy, age 9, inside.
She gave birth to a boy while in custody.
Wilkerson’s has the couple’s four children in South Carolina.
