A Mississippi woman and her 10-year-old daughter allegedly had a “suicide pact” and agreed to take many pills. Police allege that only the girl followed through. And it almost cost the girl her life. Brittney Leigh Hensley, the mother, is currently behind prison. She is accused with serious child abuse.
The Ocean Springs Police Department arrived soon before 6:30 p.m. on July 6 to a call about an unresponsive youngster at the extended stay Studio 6 motel. Hensley, 37, and her daughter had lived there.
When first responders arrived, they discovered the girl unresponsive in a green bag with multiple unknown pill capsules and empty prescription drug bottles, according to the press statement. The drug was prescribed to Hensley, according to investigators.
Paramedics transported the girl to the hospital, where she was intubated. She was then taken to another hospital. At some point, the girl awoke and told authorities that she and her mother had made a contract and that she had taken numerous pills.
“She had this suicide pact with her daughter, and the daughter took the pills, but (Hensley) didn’t,” Ocean Springs Police Chief Ryan Lemaire told the Biloxi Sun Herald. “So, the momma started freaking out when her daughter wouldn’t wake up.”
The girl is still in the care and custody of Mississippi Child Protective Services. Her recuperation is ongoing.
Hensley was scheduled to meet with police detectives and CPS investigators, but instead escaped to Alabama. Police acquired a warrant for Hensley’s arrest in September.
On October 15, Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers reported her arrest by the Huntsville (Alabama) Police Department. She has now been extradited back to the Jackson County Jail, where she is being held on a $500,000 bond. It’s unknown whether she has a lawyer.