Mom accused of driving minivan with kids into ocean faces attempted murder counts

Simon Besner / AP

In this image made from video and released by Simon Besner, lifeguards rescue children from a minivan that their mother drove into the Atlantic Ocean, Tuesday, March 4, 2014 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Associated Press

Friday, March 7, 2014 | 10:38 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A pregnant South Carolina woman who drove a minivan carrying her three young children into the ocean surf off Florida is being charged with attempted murder and aggravated child abuse.

Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said Friday that 31-year-old Ebony Wilkerson is being charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse.

Bystanders and officers helped pull Wilkerson and her children from their minivan as it was almost submerged on Tuesday on Daytona Beach. The children are 3, 9 and 10.

The sheriff says Wilkerson has denied trying to harm her children, but her children told investigators otherwise.

Johnson says the windows were rolled up and the doors were locked. He says one of the children tried to wrestle the steering wheel away.