LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida woman has been charged with attempted murder after planning and executing a failed suicide pact with her family Monday, deputies said.
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According to an arrest report from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, 59-year-old Barbara Bates, her husband 64-year-old Neil Bates, and their son planned the suicide pact after learning they were facing eviction and would be homeless.
“Due to an imminent eviction that would leave the family homeless, a plan was formulated to commit suicide together before the eviction was served, alcohol and steeping pills were consumed to begin the process, and after lying down on the master bed together, [Neil Bates] advised that he would go first due to not having the courage to harm his son,” the report read.
Detectives said the suspect told them her husband cut his own throat with a box cutter, but she deepened the cut because she thought he did not go far enough. She also cut his wrists, the report said.
According to the sheriff’s office, she then cut her son’s throat toward the larynx. Detectives said the son told them he began panicking during this and no longer wanted to die, but he was losing consciousness…