A mother from Nashville has been charged with drowning her seven year old daughter because the child wouldn’t leave her alone.
Brandi Elliot, 33, faces charges of first-degree murder and has been denied bail after allegedly drowning her daughter Piper in Drakes Creek in Hendersonville on Saturday.
Elliot reportedly told police that she was having a bad day and Piper wouldn’t give her what she wanted – ‘time alone.’
She then decided to take Piper to a shallow area in the greenway and held her under the water until bubbles surfaced.
As she held her daughter underwater ‘like a largemouth bass,’ Elliot told the child to be quiet, WKRN reported.
“Since the victim would not give her what she wanted, time alone, that she would give the victim what she wanted,” the documents read.
Elliot reportedly said she only realized the gravity of her actions when it was too late and attempted to revive Piper with CPR.
According to police, a family are witnesses in the investigation; they have started a memorial along the greenway for Piper, and want to turn the area into ‘Piper’s Pathway.’
In court on Tuesday, Elliot claimed that she had been diagnosed with postpartum depression when her daughter was two but was not currently receiving medical care. “When my daughter was two, I kind of lost it like I did this time,” Elliott said in court.
“I had postpartum depression and they gave me medicine for it. I was having a really bad time with sleeping.” Both her attorney and the state said on Tuesday that they did not want her mentally evaluated at this time.
The accused killer has no criminal records and is employed at McDonald’s.
Elliot broke down in tears as she informed the judge about her husband’s disability.
Prosecutors have indicated that they may seek the death penalty for Elliot if found guilty.
