Inset: Marilyn Therrell (Osceola County Corrections and Jail Services). Background: The home in Osceola County, Florida, where authorities said the incident occurred (WFTV/YouTube).
A woman in Florida is accused of trying to kill her autistic sons with medication before trying to do the same to herself, reasoning that she had found it harder and harder to care for them, authorities say.
Marilyn Therrell, 68, faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated abuse of a disabled adult, according to Osceola County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime.
On Sept. 8, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office was called to a home on Indian Ridge Trail South in Four Corners, Florida, about an apparent drug overdose, Orlando Fox affiliate WOFL reported.
Therrell and her two sons — who were in their 30s and had cases of severe autism — were rushed to an area hospital.
About a week later, deputies interviewed Therrell and other family members. She reportedly said that after her husband died last year, she found it increasingly harder to care for her sons and then allegedly admitted that she purposefully gave them an overdose of medication.
She apparently also tried to harm herself with medication.
Therrell and her two sons were expected to survive, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said. The men remained hospitalized, and once they are released, they are set to be put in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families' Adult Protective Services.
Jail records show the defendant was arrested and jailed. She is now awaiting an arraignment.
Osceola County is located just south of Orlando in central Florida, with its county seat being Kissimmee.
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