A Florida woman faces charges of first-degree murder after she allegedly strangled her 18-year-old daughter, who called police moments earlier to report that her mother was trying to kill her.
Rotesha Silveus, 38, remains jailed following the May 13 death of her adult daughter, Natavia Sanders, who two days earlier made a desperate call to 911, saying she “just woke up from being passed out” and that her own mother just tried to strangle her to death, according to WFLA.
However, before the dispatcher could learn more, the call suspiciously went dead.
Officers with the Tampa Police Department rushed to the house on E. 23rd Avenue off N. 19th Street and knocked on the front door for several minutes before they were met at the entry by Silveus.
But she refused to come outside and then tried to slam the door shut, leading to a brief altercation with the officers that ended with her in handcuffs.
Moments later, the officers found the 18-year-old woman lying unconscious on the kitchen floor while three children under the age of 10 were also inside the home, but none of them were harmed.
The oldest of the children — a 9-year-old girl — told police that during the night, she heard Sanders screaming for help.
The child said she ran downstairs and saw Silveus sitting on top of Sanders, allegedly suffocating the younger woman, police said.
The 9-year-old said she scurried away after Silveus commanded her to go back to bed.
Officers performed CPR on Sanders, but she remained lifeless and non-responsive.
She was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, and doctors soon declared her brain dead.
For the moment, though, she was still alive, so Silveus was charged initially with aggravated battery and causing great bodily harm.
The victim would live another two days before succumbing to her injuries.
The medical examiner later ruled Sanders’ death a homicide, citing strangulation as the cause of death, and the charges against Silveus were upgraded to first-degree murder.
She remains jailed at the Orient Road Jail in Hillsborough County with no bond.
Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw described Sanders’ death as a “heartbreaking case.”
“Our deepest condolences go out to all those who knew and loved Natavia,” he said in a statement. “Our detectives’ hard work demonstrates our commitment to ensuring justice is served in this matter.”
Friends and relatives shared positive memories about Sanders on social media, with high school classmates in Erie, Pennsylvania, grappling with the shocking circumstances of her death.
“Natavia, I miss you so much,” one of Sanders’ friends posted on social media, paired with a video of Sanders at a bowling alley. “Just keep thinking to myself am I ever going to be okay but you’ll forever be missed.”
“She was a special person, she was a gift, she was everything anyone can ever ask for,” one Facebook user wrote. “She was gentle and patient. She definitely didn’t deserve what had happened to her. She should have lived her life.”
