A mother who is 39 years old and lives in Florida will spend the rest of her life in prison for the murder of her daughter, who was three years old. She attempted to kill her daughter by poisoning her with milk that was tainted with bleach, but finally tried to kill her by strangling her daughter to death.
As evidenced by the records that Law&Crime examined, Judge Keith Carsten of the Osceola County Circuit Court issued an order on Wednesday mandating that Joanne Zephir endure a sentence of life imprisonment in a state correctional facility without the possibility of release.
Zephir, who was facing the death penalty, is accused of not only stabbing her husband but also of forcing her daughter, who was eight years old at the time, to drink the beverage that included bleach. She entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree murder with a weapon and one count of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon after reaching an agreement with the prosecutor’s office. It was agreed upon by the prosecution that they would not pursue the death sentence and that they would dismiss a third charge of attempted felony murder in exchange for the person entering into the plea deal.
After receiving a distressing 911 call from the killer’s sister-in-law, deputies with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office started searching for Zephir’s Toyota Corolla at approximately 12:44 a.m. on May 8, 2022. This information was previously reported by Law&Crime. The sister-in-law said to the emergency dispatchers that Zephir had contacted her and informed her that she had “poisoned her two daughters and one of them was already dead.” She also stated that “her other daughter had taken the poison and she would be dead soon too.”
It was said in an affidavit of probable cause that the sister-in-law made a request to speak with the daughter who was still alive, who was eight years old. As the youngster received the phone from Zephir, the sister-in-law instructed the child to “run” and “look for other people near the road and get help.” Zephir then handed the phone to the child.
A short time later, the deputies located the child, who was eight years old at the time, and she directed them to a church parking lot located in the 4900 block of Old Pleasant Hill Road in Kissimmee, Florida. This is the location where Zephir’s vehicle was parked. When the authorities arrived, they discovered Zephir and her daughter, who was three years old, inside the vehicle.
According to the paper, “Joanne was discovered sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, and deputies noticed that she appeared lethargic and was drooling from the mouth.”
Despite being seated in a pink child seat in the back of the vehicle, the three-year-old child was unresponsive.
“Deputies reported that they could smell a strong odor of bleach emanating from the interior of the vehicle,” the document adds. “The vehicle was smelling offensive.”
Unfortunately, the emergency medical services were unable to save the life of the three-year-old child.
The child, who was eight years old at the time, stated to the investigators at the hospital that her mother had driven her and her younger sister to the parking lot, where they had taken a sleep after being picked up by their mother from their aunt’s house.
In the document that was written by the authorities, it was said that “after their nap, her mother made her and her sister drink a’special milk’ that she told them would clean their ‘bellies.'” “The eight-year-old recounted that her mother had initially forced her sister, who was three years old at the time, to drink the milk. However, the sister had informed Zephir that the milk was “yucky.” She was told by Zephir that the milk was beneficial to her and that she was required to consume it. Zephir then proceeded to force the three-year-old to consume around half of the bottle of milk.
Following that, Zephir allegedly handed the “milk” to the eight-year-old girl and instructed her to consume it. Before throwing up, the youngster reported to the investigators that she had consumed three large sips of water. According to the documents, she stated that it smelled “bad, like pickles,” and that it caused her tongue to burn. However, her mother informed her that it was “good for them,” and that she “had to drink it.”
According to what they wrote, “the eight-year-old girl stated that her mother had put her sister back in the car but that she was no longer breathing and that she had passed away.”
After Miranda, Zephir allegedly admitted to stabbing her husband before picking up the girls from their aunt’s house. This event took place after Miranda.
In the affidavit, it was alleged that Joanne had stated that after she had slain her “babies,” she made the decision to attempt suicide. She then stated that she felt both of her girls had passed away. The information that Joanne provided was that she attempted to end her life by consuming a significant amount of bleach.
