Georgia mother ‘drains’ 13-month-old daughter bloody in bizarre murder as she goes ‘insane’ with her husband, who had two other wives

Did Chloe Driver have a psychotic break triggered by her husband, the leader of her cult, or did she intentionally kill her 13-month-old daughter?

A jury in Georgia answered that question when it returned its verdict on November 20th.

The 24-year-old mother was found mentally ill and guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in one of the most bizarre and horrific cases in recent memory.

Prosecutors paint a disturbing picture of Chloe Driver’s family life – with abusive rituals and urine drinking – before it all came to a bloody end on December 8, 2020. That day, she grabbed a knife from the kitchen of her home in Canton, Georgia, locked herself in the bedroom with her daughter Hannah and slashed her baby, according to court testimony revealed in an investigative report by The Independent.

A closer look at the events leading up to the tragedy revealed a rabbit hole so deep that it shocked even the police.

Driver lost her temper after a minor confrontation with her husband Benyamin Ben Michael, who had two other wives. He had thrown her a dirty shirt when she asked for something clean to change Hannah.

“From that moment on I was crazy,” Driver told Dr. Jacquelyn Zahm, who assessed her mental state after the murder.

Ben Michael attempted CPR and called police, who found the mother and child covered in blood on the mattress. They were taken to the hospital, where the daughter died from her injuries, according to an investigation report.

The emergency doctor who treated Hannah said the baby was “bloodless” when she arrived at the hospital.

Prosecutors said the young mother killed her baby because she was tired of her unconventional relationship and wanted her husband all to herself. They read out excerpts from an alleged confession letter to the court.

“He didn’t do it. I did it,” Driver wrote about her husband Ben Michael, who also went by “Z” or Brian Joyce. “I went crazy and didn’t want to be with his friends anymore, but I kept coming back for him. All I wanted was my baby and my husband, but he refused.”

“She wanted to be with him and he would never give up the polygamous lifestyle they had adopted,” the prosecution argued.

The driver’s defense team attempted to make a plea of ​​insanity, citing a long history of abuse and multiple mental health issues, including paranoia, borderline personality disorder and cannabis use disorder.

“She believed that by breastfeeding she was transferring her sin – all the bad things about her – onto her child,” Dr. McLendon Garrett, a forensic psychologist who interviewed her after the murder.

Dr. Garrett added that she suffered from the delusion that her husband – and his wives – wanted her to kill herself and their baby. The driver also revealed disturbing details about the rituals she was allegedly subjected to.

This included a punishment called “dark therapy,” in which she was confined to a bed in a dark bedroom and denied access to the toilet, forcing her to urinate on herself. According to witness accounts, the cult-like group also engaged in extreme health practices, including drinking their own urine.

When Driver first met Ben Michael at age 17, he was 21 years her senior and the leader of an itinerant religious group.

“She was incredibly isolated and mentally unwell,” Dr. Garrett according to The Independent. “Their relationship with the group and their dynamic created a perfect storm.”

Although the revelations about her personal life were shocking, they did not sway the jury, which returned a guilty verdict on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated murder, cruelty to children and aggravated assault. The driver will be sentenced on December 12th.