WORCESTER (WHDH) — A Worcester mother was charged Thursday after police said she took her young daughter and tried to kill the girl and herself.
Lee-Ann Rickheit sparked an AMBER Alert late Wednesday night after police said she took 3-year-old Ella Abbott. Ella’s grandmother, Dale Abbott, said she called police when Rickheit sent her a cryptic text message with a picture of Ella. In the message, Abbott said Rickheit told her she had to take Ella with her and that she was sorry.
“Right then and there, I knew she was gonna kill her,” said Abbott.
Police said they found Rickheit and her daughter in her car in the woods behind a convenience store in Charlton. The car was allegedly flooded with exhaust, with clothing stuffed into its tailpipe. Rickheit and Ella were either asleep or unconscious when they were found. An officer smashed the window of the car to get to the pair. They were taken to the hospital to be treated for carbon monoxide exposure.
Police said Rickheit told them she wanted to kill herself because “no one cares about me.”
Ella is safe and doing well but Abbott said she has been placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Families (DCF), who plan on placing her with a foster family.
Abbott and Leslie Abbott, Ella’s aunt, are trying to gain custody of the young girl.
“This child’s been traumatized. She’s seen her mother nearly kill her, she woke up in the hospital and she knows nothing,” said Leslie Abbott. “She’s never been alone, she needs somebody with her.”
Family members said Rickheit is mentally ill and had not been taking her medication. She is being held on $500,000 bail.
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