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Woman accused of murdering her 3-year-old son in Jacksonville Beach will use insanity defense

Police say Amy Oliver planned the murder of her son, who she allegedly gave a lethal dose of a sedative, killing him.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville woman who police say gave a lethal doze of sedative medication to her 3-year-old son in a pre-meditated murder filed an insanity defense Tuesday, court records show.

Amy Oliver's attorney filed the motion Tuesday, which said that five witnesses will testify to substantiate Oliver's claim of insanity.

Oliver was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault on an emergency care worker and aggravated manslaughter of a child.

Her attorney filed the motion Tuesday, which said that five witnesses will testify to substantiate Oliver's claim of insanity. 

One of the witnesses is a doctor who has "not yet examined Oliver," but the filing says that the defense counsel is "desperately trying to make arrangements for Dr. Krop's electronic examination of Oliver for as soon as possible."

The filing says that Oliver suffers from a "constellation of mental infirmities, diseases and defects, including depression, anxiety, premenstrual dysphoric disorder and other undiagnosed and unspecified mental disorders" and "because of these conditions, she did not know what she was doing was wrong." 

An arrest report shows that the father of Oliver's child called 911 after he found the boy not breathing. He told dispatch that Oliver "tried to kill" the child, the report said, and attempted CPR while for help. 

Jacksonville Fire Rescue reported to the home and took the boy to the hospital, where he died, the report said.

A motion by prosecutors to revoke bond says that Oliver barricaded herself inside a bathroom and sent a text from her phone that "strongly suggested" the murder was premeditated.

When JFRD crews forced their way into the bathroom, court documents said, Oliver tried to stab them with a syringe. 

A medical examiner concluded the child's death was a homicide. 

   

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