Ga. mom who was allegedly in a cult sentenced for fatally stabbing 13-month-old daughter

CANTON, Ga. (TCN) -- A judge sentenced a 24-year-old woman to life in prison for fatally stabbing her 13-month-old daughter in what the judge called a "heinous offense."

Cherokee County court records show Chloe Driver received a life sentence with the possibility of parole for malice murder, plus 20 years for first-degree cruelty to children. The terms will run concurrently. In November, a jury found Driver guilty but mentally ill on charges of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, and cruelty to children for killing her little girl, Hannah Driver.

The Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office said at the time of the conviction that the jury "rejected the defendant’s insanity defense and found that she was criminally responsible for her actions."

On Dec. 8, 2020, Canton Police Department officers responded to a home on Mountain Vista Boulevard for a report of a deceased infant and an adult with life-threatening injuries, and found Driver and her daughter in a bedroom with injuries. Medics transported Hannah Driver to a hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. Chloe Driver was taken to a different hospital in serious condition. About two weeks later, on Dec. 22, 2020, Canton Police Department detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Driver following her release from the hospital.

According to the district attorney’s office, Driver stopped in Canton on the day of the fatal incident while driving from North Carolina to Florida. Driver was reportedly "part of a cult" that comprised two men, three women, and the baby. When they got back to her home, Driver brought her daughter upstairs and stabbed her in the neck. Hannah Driver’s father attempted lifesaving measures on her until paramedics arrived.

Hannah Driver sustained stab wounds to her right carotid artery, proximal esophagus, fourth cervical vertebra, and right upper back.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper said in her closing arguments at Driver’s trial, "No matter how hopeless you feel, no matter how desperate you feel, no matter how angry you feel, no matter how frustrated you feel, you don’t get to commit the act of murder, and that is the law. That was a violent, heinous, horrible way to die. And I don’t care how bad your life is, you do not get to do that to this baby girl, and there be no consequences for you. She chose that life. Hannah did not. Hold her responsible."

WAGA-TV reports Judge Ellen McElyea told Driver at her sentencing, "A parent killing a child offends us on the deepest levels."

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