Background: News footage of the Columbus, Ohio, home where Sharon Sakoulos allegedly killed her daughter (WSYX). Inset: Sharon Sakoulos (Franklin County Sheriff's Office).
An Ohio mom allegedly told police she meant to kill her 3-year-old daughter when she placed a plastic bag over her head.
Sharon Sakoulos, 41, is in custody at the James A. Karnes Correctional Center after being charged with the murder of her 3-year-old daughter, Cassidy. According to courtroom coverage from local ABC affiliate WSYX of Sakoulos' court hearing on Friday, prosecutors said that Sakoulos admitted to suffocating her daughter with a plastic bag. The alleged killing took place at her home in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday.
Court records obtained by local CBS affiliate WBNS show that police responded to Sakoulos' home at 5:35 p.m. on Wednesday after receiving a call that a child was not breathing. When officers from the Columbus Division of Police arrived, they found Cassidy unresponsive with visible bruises. The little girl was rushed to Nationwide Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead just after 6 p.m.
WSYX spoke to neighbors who saw Sakoulos when first responders arrived. They told the station that Sakoulos had "weird energy" and was "always overstaying her welcome and not paying attention to the baby."
One of Sakoulos' neighbors told WSYX, "She wanted us to watch the baby all the time. The ambulance came, and she was standing there smoking a cigarette. And we were like, 'That's weird,' especially since the way the mom was standing there, like, reactionless."
Police said Sakoulos admitted to killing her daughter, saying she placed a plastic bag over the girl's head until she stopped moving. According to court records, she told police she intended to kill her daughter.
During Sakoulos' arraignment on Friday, prosecutors provided more details about the defendant's history of erratic behavior and mental illness. Prosecutors said that in 2023, Sakoulos pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer by "[throwing] and [shaking] a container of AJAX cleaning substance" at the officer in 2020. In 2022, she was deemed incompetent to stand trial and spent some time being treated at the Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare Hospital.
Sakoulos was also accused of assaulting police officers in a 2016 case. The outcome of that case was not specified.
Prosecutors said that Sakoulos had a history of bipolar disorder and had been hospitalized for mental illness. Sakoulos' public defender said her client was a military veteran who was honorably discharged.
Sakoulos was charged with murder. At Friday's arraignment, Sakoulos' bond was set at $2 million. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 9.
Comments