DAYTONA BEACH (AP) — The first thing a pregnant South Carolina woman said after driving a minivan carrying her three young children into the ocean surf off Florida was that she was abused by her husband, according to a police report released Monday.
A judge has issued a temporary injunction ordering Ebony Wilkerson ‘s husband to stay away from some family members.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that a circuit judge issued the injunction Monday against Lutful Ronjon, Wilkerson’s husband.
In court documents, Wilkerson’s sister Jessica Harrell says Ronjon threatened to kill her and her sister if she tried to help the woman escape his abuse. Records show that an injunction against Ronjon which orders him to stay away from Harrell, her house, her child’s school and a residence where the family is staying is in effect until March 20, when a hearing is scheduled.
A Daytona Beach safety officer asked 32-year-old Wilkerson if she was injured after she swerved the car into the ocean last week. Wilkerson responded with the abuse allegation, according to the report from Volusia County Beach Safety.
Wilkerson is jailed, with bail set at $1.2 million. She faces three counts of attempted murder and three counts of child abuse.
Bystanders and officers helped pull her and her children — ages 3, 9 and 10 — from their minivan as it was almost submerged.
Another beach safety officer reported Wilkerson looked fatigued and her speech was confusing when he interviewed her in the hospital where she had been taken. When Officer David Vania asked what happened, Wilkerson told him “she had endured 14 years of agony with her husband,” the report said.
Wilkerson’s father said Wilkerson’s sister had taken her to a hospital for a mental evaluation the day before but Wilkerson had checked herself out against the staff’s medical advice, the report said.
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