VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A 69-year-old DeLand woman was arrested during an apparent murder-suicide attempt involving her disabled 13-year-old great-granddaughter, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office was alerted Monday night after a suicide note was found in Deborah A. Collier’s home in the Daytona Park Estates area. When deputies located her vehicle near Seville, they conducted a traffic stop and noticed the 13-year-old unconscious in the passenger’s seat.
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Collier told deputies that the girl was sleeping, but deputies noticed white pill residue on her and found her “totally unresponsive,” according to the sheriff’s office. The girl was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Deputies continued their investigation and found prescription medicine bottles and another typed note in Collier’s purse that indicated she was ending her and her great-granddaughter’s lives “due to the stress caused to the rest of the family,” the sheriff’s office said.
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The teen girl required comprehensive, 24-hour care due to her disabilities, and Collier and her husband have been the sole caregivers since the girl’s birth, according to sheriff’s officials.
“The constant demands of caretaking have contributed to significant stress in the family. Collier was opposed to the idea of the victim receiving care in an assisted-living facility and said she believed that no one would care for her like family‚” the sheriff’s office said. “In her desperation due to these hardships, Collier made a plan to end her great-granddaughter’s life followed by her own.”
Collier faces an attempted first-degree murder charge and was booked into the Volusia County jail.
If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis, you can call 211 locally, or 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline. Trained dispatchers will help you find a way to get the care you need.
If you are in an immediate emergency and need law enforcement help, dial 911.