Testimony: Woman who drove children into the ocean was self-medicating

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Ebony Wilkerson, a mother who drove her minivan into the ocean at Daytona Beach with her children inside in 2014, appeared before a judge Wednesday for a status hearing.

When the minivan hit the water, bystanders and police were able to pull the woman and her children out and no one was hurt.

Wilkerson was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges stemming from the Daytona Beach incident, which was caught on camera by tourists and made national news.

During Wednesday’s hearing in Volusia County, staff from the Lake Wales treatment facility testified that Wilkerson had been self-medicating and self-reporting what she took on a regular basis.

One officer told the judge that he was called to the Lake Wales Medical facility for a report of a sexual battery, with Wilkerson as the victim.  Wilkerson had driven herself to the medical facility.

But when the officer got there, Wilkerson screamed at him.

Another officer reported that he ran into Wilkerson along the highway that same day. When he finally caught up to her, she was screaming and said to him, "Jesus has a plan for me."

Wilkerson’s husband, Lutful Ronjon, told Channel 9 that “now is the time to focus on the positive” and to focus on how much progress she’s made. He also said he wants to focus on reuniting Wilkerson with her children.

“Yes, um, she needed some kind of help and she ended up helping herself. So rather than knocking her on all the negatives, let’s look at all the positives and also what we could help her with,” Ronjon said.

The judge stayed the hearing for a week to give Wilkerson’s attorney more time to prepare.

Cox Media Group