Hines
A mother from Frankford has admitted to using a bedsheet to strangle her two young children while the three were visiting a relative in South Florida on June 8, authorities there claim.
An attorney for Sophia Hines, 40, reportedly told CBS4 of Miami that Hines was suffering from postpartum depression and had stopped taking her medication before she murdered her daughter, Ariel, 3, and son, St. Leo, 7 months, at the home of a cousin. Police went to the residence in Miramar, Florida (a community midway between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) at about 5:20 p.m. following an eight-minute 911 call placed by Neisha Nettleford.
Police later released a recording of the emergency call, during which the witness told an operator that she was away from home when Hines called her on a telephone about a dozen times insisting that Nettleford return home, the Miami Herald reported. When Nettleford arrived home, Hines was crying, but did not initially explain the problem. Nettleford went to a neighbor’s house to place the 911 call. The operator instructed Nettleford to return to her own home and to go inside. That’s when the cousin discovered the two children lying unconscious on a bed. They were not breathing.
When police arrived at the scene, they tried to revive the victims but were not successful, the Herald reported.
Suspecting foul play, police arrested Hines. She ultimately confessed that she had placed a bed sheet over the mouth and nose of her son until he stopped breathing, the Herald reported. Hines then did the same with her daughter. She reportedly did not explain her motive to police. Hines was charged with two counts of premeditated murder, a capital offense in Florida, and is being held without bail in a psychiatric facility.
Multiple local news organizations reported that Hines lived in Philadelphia’s Frankford section, although her street address has not been disclosed. The Herald reported that Hines is a citizen of Jamaica and had been staying in Florida for about a week. 6ABC reported that a Burholme child daycare center, Top Notch Tots, where the victims previously attended held a vigil for them on June 10. The children stopped attending the center in April after Hines regained full custody of the children in a Family Court proceeding. The station did not disclose details of why Hines had not had full custody of the children. ••
