Woman accused of trying to drown 2 children in pond
Laura Ann Breault. PHOTO COURTESY OF DCDC
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
A Tennessee woman is accused of trying to drown two children in a Darlington County pond after endangering their lives by driving the wrong way on Interstate 20. Laura Ann Breault, 28, of Mosheim, Tenn., faces multiple charges, including two counts of attempted murder, in the May 17 incident at I-20 and the Lamar Highway, according to arrest warrants and jail records. Jail records state that the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office has charged Breault with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of neglect by legal custodian, child endangerment by vehicle and DUI, 0.10, first offense. Her total bond for all charges is $81,000. Some early reports had said Breault drove her car into the pond, intending to kill herself and the two children, an 8-year-old girl and a 5-year-old girl. However, arrest warrants and other documents provided to the News & Press do not refer to the car going into the pond. The warrants say Breault tried to pull the children into the pond by grabbing their arms and dragging them, “with the intent to cause (their) death.” The warrants also say Breault put the children “at unreasonable risk of harm” by driving the wrong way on I-20; it’s not clear how long she allegedly did that. The warrants also allege that Breault “abandoned” the children after trying to kill them. Documents indicate the children were placed in emergency protective custody by law enforcement. An incident report says this happened about 8 p.m. when a sheriff’s deputy was called to an Exxon gas station at I-20 and the Lamar Highway. “The initial caller advised that a female left a child in a vehicle near that location and reportedly left the scene in another vehicle,” the incident report says. The woman at some point was found at the scene and questioned by law enforcement.