A Florida woman who was arrested and charged with attempted murder, aggravated child abuse and premeditated murder back in May 2022 now might face the ultimate punishment.
As reported by WKMG Orlando, Joanna Zephir was arrested in Osceola County after making her two daughters, ages 3 and 8, drink bleach in front of a church in Poinciana. According to investigating authorities, Zephir told them that she was under a “voodoo spell” placed on her by her husband, and the heartbreaking details don’t stop there.
Investigators says Zephir had an active arrest warrant in Orange County for attempted murder after stabbing her husband hours before. She then went to where her daughters were staying at a family member’s home and said she wanted to spend time with them before she turned herself in.
“She took both of her children and left the family member’s residence. Several hours later, she called a family member and told her that she had killed her 3-year-old and the 8-year-old was also going to die and then she would kill herself,” Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez said at a press conference in 2022.
Zephir’s 8-year-old survived their injuries but her 3-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. She was strangled by Zephir, according to a medical examiner.
Now, prosecutors reportedly want to put Zephir to death after a grand jury indicted her for first-degree murder with a weapon, making her “eligible for the death penalty,” the Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday, April 23.
According to prosecutors, their “decision to seek the death penalty is based on statutory aggravators including the victim being younger than 12 years old, the victim of the capital felony being particularly vulnerable because the defendant stood in a position of familial or custodial authority over the victim and the capital felony being committed while the defendant was engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, aggravated child abuse.”
Zephir’s trial is set for July, but her case is already sparking racist tropes around voodoo and the cultural beliefs that surround those who practice the religion.
“This is going to get worse. We have migrants from Haiti and Africa that some still believe in the voodoo stuff,” wrote one social media commentator on X. “The stories are brutal about things they do for voodoo. Idk why western media ignores, maybe most don’t know? They even use body parts a lot for it.”
To be clear, it is unclear Zephir is Haitian or of any Caribbean descent where voodoo is largely practiced.
Another added, “Can’t wait for more cultural enrichment.”
Someone attempted to use Zephir’s case to make a point about taxpayer money: “Rightly deserved. Too bad she’ll be on death row for 20+years on the taxpayers dime,” they wrote.
Yet through all the racially tinged comments, one social media commentator had the heart to show Zephir some compassion as a Black woman who seems to be in need of mental health help.
“We still need to have compassion and I think she should have the chance to redeem herself after some rehabilitation.”