Florida Mom Intentionally Overdosed Autistic Kids with Medication in an Attempt to Kill Them
A 68-year-old Florida mother was arrested after investigators say she intentionally overdosed two of her autistic children in an attempt to kill them, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Marilyn Elise Therrell has been arrested and booked into jail on two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated abuse of a disabled adult.
Therrell stands accused of intentionally overdosing her two sons, who are suffering from severe autism, with medication in a bid to kill them. She then attempted to take her own life but did not succeed, authorities said.
On Sept. 8, deputies responded to a home on Indian Ridge Trail South in Kissimmee after receiving a 911 call about a possible overdose. When they arrived on the scene, they found Therrell and her two adult sons, aged 30 and 32, inside the home showing signs of an apparent drug overdose, OCSO said in a news release. All three were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
On Sept. 17, detectives interviewed Therrell, who reportedly admitted to the allegations. Therrell reportedly told detectives that her husband died last year and, since then, it has become more difficult to care for both of her sons, OCSO said.
A spokesperson for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said all three are expected to survive. The two men remain hospitalized, the spokesperson said. Once they’re able to be released, they’ll be placed in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families’ Adult Protective Services.
The case also bears similarities to the widely publicized case of Lindsay Clancy, who was accused of killing her three young children in Massachusetts in January 2023 before attempting to take her own life by jumping from a second-story window.
Clancy’s defense centered on postpartum psychosis and her mental state at the time of the killings; her trial ended in a mistrial earlier this month after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.
