A Florida mother has been charged with multiple counts of solicitation to commit murder after she attempted to get her children to kill their grandparents after she lost custody.
Leticia Silva of Lakeland, Fla. had lost custody of her two children, ages 7 and 9, and they had been living with their grandparents in North Carolina for about seven years. In February, the children’s grandmother told police she found a kitchen knife under her granddaughter’s pillow. When she asked the child about it, the girl allegedly said her mother had called around Christmas and told her to kill the grandparents. The grandmother also claimed the little girl told her Silva had also mailed the children a pocket knife.
The children allegedly told their grandparents that they never would have gone through with it.
Silva, 31, turned herself in on Monday and is now facing four counts of first-degree solicitation to commit murder. Her bond was set at $5 million.
The children reportedly only spoke with their mother once or twice a month and their father lives nearby.
Silva’s side of the family claim the grandparents are making everything up, and that the whole situation is a misunderstanding.
