Chloe Driver murder trial day 1: Young Canton mother charged with stabbing her toddler to death

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Chloe Driver (Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office)

CANTON, Ga. – Trial of Chloe Driver, a mother from Cherokee County He was accused of stabbing his little daughter to deathHannah Nicole Driver debuted on Tuesday in December 2020.

The incident took place on Dec. 8, 2020, at home in Mountain View subdivision. It is located along Mountain Vista Boulevard. When officers arrived, they said they found both the child and the mother, who was 20 at the time, in an upstairs bedroom. The child was taken to the hospital and later died.

According to court documents, He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

He faces charges of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault and cruelty to children.

Opening statements in Chloe Driver murder trial: Mother had ‘polyamorous relationship’

In its opening statement, the prosecution said Driver was in a polyamorous relationship with Brian Joyce, who was with Benyamin Ben Michael and two other women. The group reportedly adhered to extreme views, rejected modern medicine, and followed strict dietary and lifestyle rules. “You will hear a lot of distracting evidence about this group… but your verdict in this case will be the same as what happened to Hannah,” prosecutor and assistant district attorney Katie Groppe said.

Groppe emphasized the brutality of the crime. “This is Hannah Nicole Driver on December 8, 2020. She was 13 months old,” the prosecutor said, showing the photo of the child. “You will not see her that way at this trial. Instead, you will see her the way first responders see her… A beautiful girl who was brutally murdered by her mother, stabbed repeatedly, every part of her. Her life was spent.”

The prosecution warned the jury they would hear that Driver belonged to a controversial group with unorthodox beliefs, including strict veganism, sensory deprivation practices and unusual healing rituals.

The driver faces multiple charges, including felony murder. The state’s case focuses on proving Driver intended to kill his daughter.

However, defense lawyer Angela Trethaway argued that Driver was not in a good mental state at the time of the incident, citing serious psychological stressors that were allegedly exacerbated by his involvement in the group. The defense’s position highlights Driver’s mental state and suggests that he was influenced by the manipulation of Joyce and his friends, which they claim led to his mental health deteriorating. “There is no dispute as to the facts of the events that occurred… Ms. Driver does not dispute that she killed her 13-month-old girl,” the defense attorney said. “The only issue you have to decide in this case is Ms. Driver’s mental state and state of mind at the time of the crime.”

Chloe Driver murder case: Gripping 911 calls, evidence presented

Eight prosecution witnesses testified Tuesday in the murder trial of Chloe Driver, who is accused of fatally stabbing her 13-month-old daughter, Hannah. The court heard chilling accounts from law enforcement and emergency responders, as well as details about the events surrounding the child’s death.

The first witness to describe the 911 calls reporting Hannah being stabbed was a Canton Police 911 dispatcher. Audio of the calls was played in court and the officer confirmed that none of the callers indicated that Chloe had also been injured.

Following the officer, the homeowner of the property on Mountain Vista Boulevard testified. She described her relationship with Brian Joyce, whom she calls “Z”, whom she met through a third party after watching a video about spirituality online. The homeowner stated that Joyce and his girlfriend had been staying at his home intermittently since 2015, describing Joyce as “some kind of crazy hippie.” He stated that although he was aware of Joyce’s polyamorous relationship, he did not observe his behavior.

Canton Police Officer Gary Pruitt, who was first on the scene, testified that he responded to a dispatch call around 2:27 p.m. “The call came in that a mother had killed her baby with a knife,” Pruitt said. . He described finding the little boy covered in blood on the bed, and jurors were shown body camera footage of him arriving at the home. The driver appeared emotional as the footage played. Pruitt added that Hannah was taken to the hospital by paramedics. During cross-examination he confirmed that he found Chloe lying on the floor and holding hands with her child in bed.

Canton Police Cpl. Adam Yurkovsky stated that he initiated the initial investigation by separating the parties to prevent them from coordinating their accounts.

Paramedic Brooke Ice, an eight-year veteran of Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services, described feeling in danger as she cared for the baby, nearly kneeling over the knife believed to be the murder weapon. Another paramedic moved the knife on the ground next to him. He increased his sense of fear by expressing that he was unaware of the identities of those present.

Canton Police Detective Tom Priest later told the jury: “I was taken upstairs to the room where the incident occurred and I saw a large amount of blood on the bed and on the floor. I also saw a knife on the floor.” Priest shared photos from the scene, including one of Joyce, who he said was shocked and emotional when she learned of Hannah’s death.

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Investigator Christopher Shaw testified that he was called by Canton Police to assist in the investigation. Shaw first went to the hospital and documented the child’s injuries. He explained that there was significant blood loss and knife cuts on the child’s neck. As jurors reviewed relevant photos, the driver became visibly upset as Shaw detailed the injuries, including the condition of the child’s sock. Shaw described the crime scene as a “clear crime scene” and stated that it consisted of a single bedroom and that the knife suspected to be the murder weapon belonged to a set taken from the kitchen.

Finally, Commander Lindsay Harris, a digital forensics expert with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, testified about his role in unlocking Chloe Driver’s cell phone and extracting data. Harris said his department created a report containing more than 800,000 pages of data from the device.

Medical witnesses are scheduled to testify Wednesday as the trial continues in Fulton County Superior Court, presided over by Judge Ellen McElyea.