A Florida mother faces a murder charge after deputies found her injured beside her 6-year-old daughter, who was pronounced dead at the scene just after midnight Feb. 25 at a home in Milton, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities have not described a motive, but records and law enforcement statements show the hours leading up to the discovery included a troubling phone call to a relative and a family member rushing to the home to check on the mother. Investigators said the mother suffered injuries during the incident and was taken to a hospital, where she later appeared by video for a brief court hearing as a judge appointed her a public defender and scheduled the next step in the case.
According to investigators and reporting based on the arrest paperwork, April Oliva, 40, called her sister late Tuesday night, Feb. 24, and spoke in a way that alarmed her. The sister told deputies the call did not make sense and included comments about “evil spirits” and that “something bad happened,” according to the report. The sister’s roommate contacted their father, Steven Tuttle, who drove to the home while the sister stayed on the phone, records said. When Tuttle arrived, he could hear his daughter screaming inside but could not get in at first, according to the account given to deputies.
Investigators said Tuttle eventually found an unlocked door and entered, moving through the home until he found his daughter and granddaughter on the floor, covered in blood. The report said Oliva repeatedly told him, “she’s dead,” as he tried to understand what he was seeing. Tuttle called 911, and deputies responded to what the sheriff’s office described as a “cutting incident” at a home in the 5000 block of Nowling Drive. When deputies arrived just after midnight, they found Oliva with the child, authorities said, and the girl was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials said the child, Valerie Oliva, suffered multiple stab wounds, including wounds to the neck, and a medical examiner determined she was stabbed more than 20 times. Investigators said they located a knife in the home as they began processing the scene. Chief Deputy Randy Tifft told reporters that the mother had wounds to her neck and stomach that appeared to be self-inflicted and that she remained in stable condition while receiving medical care. “She had self-inflicted wounds on herself, and the six-year-old was determined to be deceased as a result of multiple knife stab wounds,” Tifft said in an interview after the arrest report became public.
The sheriff’s office said no one else was inside the home when the stabbing occurred. Records and law enforcement statements said Valerie’s father, who is Oliva’s husband, was out of town for work, leaving the mother and child alone. Investigators have not said whether the family had prior contact with law enforcement or social services, and they have not released a timeline of what happened inside the home between the phone call to the sister and the moment deputies were dispatched. Authorities also have not said whether the mother made any statements to deputies at the scene beyond what relatives described hearing.
While the sheriff’s office confirmed the girl’s death and the mother’s arrest, detectives have described the investigation as ongoing and have limited what they will release publicly at this stage. In homicide cases, investigators typically rely on interviews, forensic testing and medical examiner findings to document a victim’s injuries and the sequence of events. The sheriff’s office said detectives continued to gather evidence and conduct interviews in the days after the child was found. Officials have not said when a full autopsy report will be completed or whether any additional charges could be filed as the case moves forward.
Oliva was arrested on a charge described by investigators as murder, and local reporting identified the charge as second-degree murder. Deputies said she will be booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail after she is released from the hospital. On Thursday, Feb. 26, Oliva made a first court appearance by video from her hospital bed, and Santa Rosa County Judge Matt Gordon appointed a public defender, according to court reporting. The hearing was brief, and the judge scheduled a pretrial detention hearing for 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, as the state decides whether Oliva should remain held while the case proceeds.
In public statements, the sheriff’s office framed the case as a loss that hit both the victim’s relatives and the first responders who arrived to help. “This is a deeply tragic case, and our thoughts are with all those affected,” the agency said in a statement. Tifft described the scene as difficult for deputies and investigators and said the death of a young child can leave lasting shock in a community even after the police vehicles leave. Authorities have not released photos or detailed descriptions of the scene beyond what was included in the arrest report, and they have not said when, or if, additional court documents will be made public.
The case has now moved from a midnight emergency response to the early steps of the criminal court process, with investigators building their file and prosecutors preparing for the next hearing. Oliva remained hospitalized as of the last public update, and officials said they did not know how long she would stay there. The next scheduled milestone is the March 2 detention hearing, where a judge is expected to consider whether she will be held without release as the investigation continues and the case advances toward future court dates.