A polygamist cult member mother was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday in the stabbing death of her 13-month-old daughter four years ago.
Chloe Alexis Driver, 24, was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, cruelty to children, and aggravated assault but mentally ill by a jury that rejected her not guilty by insanity defense, WSB reported.
But the “mentally ill” designation did not sway Judge Ellen McElyea from a life sentence. The Georgia Department of Corrections will be responsible for mental health treatment while Driver is behind bars.
Driver, her husband Benyamin Ben-Michael, also known as Brian Joyce or “Z,” and their daughter Hannah Driver were traveling from North Carolina to Florida in December 2020 when they stopped at a home in Canton, Georgia, which isn’t on a direct route between those two states. Driver’s last known permanent address was in Knoxville, Tennessee, however, which does put Canton on a direct route to Florida.
Canton Police said the family had arrived at the home just two hours before the fatal stabbing. Driver reportedly stabbed herself after killing her daughter and was hospitalized in critical condition for several weeks. She was arrested when she was released from the hospital.
According to testimony at the trial, a police officer responding to a 911 call found Driver and her daughter in an upstairs bedroom of the home. Prosecutors said that she was one of Joyce’s three wives and that she was unhappy with the polygamist arrangement. Her polygamist husband testified in court that it was Driver who was manipulative, WAGA reported.
The baby was stabbed four times in the neck and once in the back, then Driver stabbed herself in the neck.
McElyea did allow for the possibility of parole for Driver.
