ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A west-central Florida woman is accused of suffocating her 4-year-old son, authorities said.
According to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Diana Elizabeth Cullom, 43, of St. Petersburg, was arrested on Jan. 28. She was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 4-year-old Finley Joseph Cullom, the St. Petersburg Police Department said in a news release.
According to Pinellas County online court records, Cullom allegedly suffocated her son with a plastic bag, WTVT reported. Authorities said she had self-inflicted stab wounds that were not life-threatening, and Cullom was transported to an area hospital.
She was arrested after her release from the hospital, the St. Petersburg Police Department said.
Police responded to a residence in St. Petersburg at about 3:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 27. Officers encountered a 16-year-old girl who stated that when she got home from school, she discovered her mother holding her brother in a bed. Officers found blood at the scene and throughout the residence.
An examination of the child by the medical examiner determined that the boy had not suffered any stab wounds.
St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway told reporters during a Tuesday briefing that the 16-year-old girl found a knife and a note at the residence, WTVT reported.
“It is our belief that the note was left by mom,” Holloway told reporters.
The boy’s father was not home at the time of the incident, WFLA reported.
Cullom is being held without bond in the Pinellas County Jail, according to online court records.
Kevin Hayslett, a defense attorney who is representing Cullom and in court for Wednesday’s hearing, said he had no comment about the case, WTVT reported.
An investigation is ongoing, police said.
“A lot of these officers, they have kids, and then you have the 16-year-old who’s coming home from school and finding her brother and her mother,” Holloway told reporters. “And then you’re just having a father come here. So right now in the neighborhood, everybody’s heart is heavy.”