Woman who drove van into the ocean may see children again

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who drove her three children into the ocean in Daytona Beach asked a judge Monday for supervised visits with her children, but her request was denied.

Ebony Wilkerson, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, drove her van into the surf in March 2014. Bystanders and officers pulled her and her children from the van. Wilkerson was found not guilty by reason of insanity of three counts of child abuse.

She has been hospitalized in the past, including in 2005 when she threatened to kill herself and her family.

Wilkerson said she was attacked by her husband days before the Daytona Beach incident. Officials said she told her children she was taking them to a better place.

"Sometimes we all need help, and she needed help, and we all failed her at one point, and by the time we realized it, it was too late," Lutful Ronjon, Wilkerson's husband, said.

Ronjon said her children are ready to see her.

"They want their mom in their life and my wife needs her children in her life," Ronjon said.

The judge said Monday that it’s in Wilkerson’s best interest to have face-to-face contact with her children, but at a later time. The judge said she wants to see a plan in place for supervised visits.

"I know this is something that has to happen. It's a process in this and I'm willing to be able to do (that) and go through the process as it stands," Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson has not seen her children since the day of the incident, and she told Channel 9’s Blaine Tolison that she’s a changed woman.

"I love my kids and I'm doing all that I can for my family, myself, and I've been in this, and not giving up,” Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson is in a treatment facility in Lake Wales. Doctors said she has not suffered another episode.

The children are with their father.

Cox Media Group