Fla. Mom Drowned Teen Daughter By Holding Her Head Underwater in Bathtub, Sheriff Says

A 14-year-old girl in Florida died after her mom held her head underwater in a bathtub, law enforcement officials say.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 20, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said that officers responded to a call regarding an “armed disturbance” at a home in Poinciana that morning involving the victim’s mother, Kelsey Glover, 35.

Lopez said that upon their arrival, the disturbance “was still taking place” at the home. Officers attempted to wrestle a hammer away from Glover while she was “trying to strike the lady who [was] trying to prevent her from harming her daughter.”

“It was just something that we caught in the act, and God only knows in which direction that was going to go if we didn’t get there on time and kick the door in,” said Lopez, noting that four people were in the home at the time of the incident: Glover, her daughter, identified as 14-year-old Giselle Glover, a roommate, and another child.

It was after Glover was apprehended that deputies spoke to people at the home who informed them that Giselle was “upstairs in the bathroom and unresponsive.”

“Witnesses also told deputies that they saw Ms. Glover holding her 14-year-old daughter’s head underwater in the bathtub. They tried to stop her but were not successful. Eventually, Ms. Glover began attacking and chasing these witnesses around the house with a hammer, which led them to call also 911,” said Lopez.

The teen was transported to a hospital, where she was declared dead shortly after arriving, said Lopez. While officials await a report from the medical examiner’s office on Giselle’s cause of death, the sheriff’s department has launched a homicide investigation. Glover was aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery charges.

Online records show that Glover is being held at the Osceola County Jail without bail. According to Lopez, officials are also investigating why Glover held her daughter’s head underwater, noting that she was “a little uncooperative” with the investigation thus far.

“Hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of that soon. That’s why, right now, we’re charging her with those other charges. But as soon as this gets concluded, the other charges will be charged, according to what occurred,” said Lopez.

According to the sheriff, the only previous record of a domestic issue occurred when Glover allegedly battered her daughter’s father, causing him to obtain an injunction against her.

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“It’s a dark day when things like this happen,” said Lopez. “What happened to her is unimaginable and we are determined to get justice for Giselle.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.