On Friday, she appeared before the Circuit Judge.
The woman who made international news when she drove her minivan full of children into the ocean in Daytona Beach was released from court-ordered supervision on Friday.
SMA healthcare was ordered by a judge to check with the doctors in South Carolina to make sure that she keeps taking her Abilify injections.
I don't want you to minimize your efforts. Everyone knows that you have done well and that you have done everything you can to correct your medical issues.
The 40-year-old woman nodded her head as the judge spoke about her gaining insight.
People with mental illness take medication which makes them feel better. They sometimes stop taking the medication because they think they don't need it.
If she stopped taking her medication or had some other problem, he wanted to keep an eye on her so that he could summon her to a hearing or take her into custody.
I want to let you go free, but at the same time I want to make sure that you are still monitored.
During the hearing, she only responded to the judges questions about who her medical providers were in South Carolina. A Christmas tree could be seen behind her and a boy came into the picture briefly but did not say anything.
The Daytona Beach arrest was made by Wilkerson.
Since March 4, 2014, when she drove her minivan into rough, rolling surf near the Silver Beach Avenue approach, she has been in custody or under supervision.
At the time, she was pregnant with her son and her two daughters, ages 10 and 3, were in the van with her. People ran to save the children as waves hit the van.
Everyone survived and she gave birth to a baby at the hospital while she was in jail.
At a court hearing in December of last year, she testified that she thought God was with her and that her children needed a cleansing when she drove into the surf.
"I kept following the Holy Spirit and kept going," he said. I was following the Holy Spirit.
She said that she didn't realize that her children could have been hurt by her driving into the surf. She said she was not trying to hurt them.
The state's Psychiatrist testified that he had a schizoaffective disorder.
Judge Case found her not guilty by reason of insanity and committed her to a state mental hospital.
When she stopped taking her medication in May of 2016 she got in trouble again after being released from the state psychiatrists hospital.
A psychiatrist testified for the state that she had been compliant for the past four years.
Kevin Sullivan, the assistant state attorney, still wants to know if she is taking her medication for a period of time.
The psychological expert for the state testified that since he became involved in the case shortly after her arrest, she has been doing the best she can. He said that she was at a low risk.
She has improved considerably, according to Meadows. She has done everything required of her. She has a history of getting off her medication.
The court was asked to end its jurisdiction in the case by the assistant public defender. He said that the psychologist who has been treating her for 4.5 years believes that she can be freed. SMA forensic case managers agreed that she could be released.
The man did reduce supervision. SMA will no longer have to report on Wilkerson.
Instead, health officials will randomly check in with her doctors to make sure she is taking her medication and avoiding trouble.
She can go on with her life because this relieves some of the burden. We will be watching her behind the scenes. We can look at it again in a couple of years.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal originally published this article.
