A 16-year-old Pasco High School student was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated domestic violence after allegedly spiking her mother’s food.
The deputies said the girl’s mother was allergic to many types of food. Her allergies are actually so severe that she carries around an EpiPen, a spring-loaded injector of epinephrine or adrenaline, which prevents her from entering anaphylactic shock.
On May 7, when deputies said the teen added seasoning salt to her mother’s food, the 39-year-old woman had a severe allergic reaction.
Apparently, the woman’s reaction was so serious that she couldn’t inject herself with the EpiPen, as usual, and her teenage daughter had to do it for her.
Several family members, including the girl’s stepfather, said they believed the girl had tainted her mother’s food more than once.
The younger sister of the charged teen, who is 11 years old, said she saw the 16-year-old put the salt in their mother’s food, but she was afraid to tell anyone, as her sister threatened to "beat her up until she was dead." The 11-year-old girl told detectives her older sister was usually authoritative and pushy, so she feared her.
The teenager told police she was unhappy with her life at home, and was angry because her mother always made her do chores and had also recently taken away her cell phone. She said she felt sorry for hurting her mother and regretted her deed.
Investigators said the teen was transported to a juvenile detention center in Pasco County.