Sabrina Wright

Background

Sabrina Wright was a Washington Heights woman. She had a longstanding mental illness and had been treated since she was 7.

Wright had believed that her daughter was “evil” and “possessed” by the spirit of Wright's own dead mother. She said she thought her daughter was possessed by the devil and believed she could save her by dunking her in a full bathtub.

Sabrina Wright had been accused of physical abuse in the past. The authorities said her case involved domestic violence reports as well. Wright’s parental rights to her two older children were dissolved, and the two older children remained in foster care.

Wright had twin daughters, Signifagance Oliver and Ellagance, with one surviving twin. The twins had been placed with a paternal aunt in Virginia.

The offence

On November 2001, Wright killed her 4-year-old daughter, Signifagance Oliver, in her Washington Heights apartment. The judge accepted a plea deal and found her not responsible for the child’s death.

Wright told the judge:

"I put her in the tub and tried to bless her." "I had her in the water and I was trying to bless her with the water. "

When Supreme Court Justice Daniel Fitzgerald prodded her with:

"And you held her under the water?" Wright replied: "Too long,"

Wright sobbed during the court appearance and said she was on heavy tranquilizers and anti-psychotics at the time. She also told the judge:

"Medications," she told the judge, "make me feel better, to understand everybody."

Police said Wright drowned Signifagance in a bathtub because she thought the child was possessed. Authorities said Wright held Signifagance down in a tub of water, and she told detectives she heard her own mother’s voice coming out of her daughter's body. Administration for Children’s Services spokeswoman Jennifer Falk said Wright was trying to exorcise some demons.

Ellagance was in the apartment at the time, and police said she was not harmed.

Investigation

Authorities were trying to determine how the mother had come into contact with Signifagance and her twin sister, Ellagance.

Officers were called to Wright’s apartment, at 550 West 160th Street, shortly before 5 a.m. Wright’s daughter Signifagance was found dead, and Ellagance was found in good condition.

Wright told detectives the child was possessed by demons, and she was taken into custody and sent to a local hospital for evaluation for a mental evaluation.

Ellagance was taken to Columbia-Presbyterian Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she remained in good condition.

Arrest

Sabrina Wright was taken into custody after officers found Signifagance dead and Ellagance in good condition.

Trial

Wright was found not responsible for Signifagance Oliver’s death by a Manhattan judge on June 25, 2003. The judge accepted a plea deal.

Supreme Court Justice Daniel Fitzgerald told Wright she could spend the rest of her life in mental hospitals.

Prosecutors agreed to the plea because their psychiatrist agreed with a defense doctor that Wright was severely mentally ill and did not understand what she was doing.

Assistant District Attorney Susan Broderick stated that the prosecutors agreed to the plea because of Wright’s severe mental illness and her inability to understand what she was doing. Broderick said defense psychiatrist Robert Berger concluded Wright was both ill and dangerous and should be in “a secure forensic inpatient facility.”

Wright’s lawyer, Daniel Gotlin, said Wright had been in and out of mental hospitals since she was 7 and had been hospitalized again months before the drowning. Gotlin blamed Virginia's courts for the tragedy and said officials returned the girl and her twin sister to Wright without an interview after New York authorities had removed the children because Wright abused them.

Wright told the judge: and also:

Sentencing

The finding and plea deal meant Wright was not guilty because her severe mental illness prevented her from understanding that what she was doing was wrong.

Wright was confined indefinitely in a mental institution. State psychiatrists were to evaluate her to determine whether she was mentally ill and dangerous.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

A Manhattan judge found Sabrina Wright not responsible for the death of her 4-year-old daughter, Signifagance Oliver, on June 25, 2003. Wright’s plea agreement resulted in a finding of not responsible, and she remained in custody in a mental institution on an indefinite basis.

Aftermath

After police and officials discovered Signifagance’s death, neighbors formed a makeshift memorial of candles outside Wright’s apartment.

Neighbors also described Wright’s behavior as including swearing loudly, picking fights with neighbors, and shifting moods abruptly. Ramona Garcia, 40, said:

"She had two faces,"

Tanya Davis, 31, said:

"She always seemed at peace with her kids,"

And Davis also said:

"The kids were very respectful," and described that the twins were often dressed identically from headbands to shoes.

Some neighbors reported seeing the twins for the past year and a half, and others said the pair moved in with Wright during the summer.

Investigators later reported that Wright was on antipsychotic drugs after the court outcome.

Timeline

• December 1992 — Administration for Children’s Services investigated Wright on charges of physical abuse and removed her two older children, now ages 10 and 11.
• July 1997 — Wright’s two older children were returned to her on a trial basis.
• April 1999 — The twins were placed in the care of an out-of-state aunt in Virginia.
• June 25, 2003 — Wright was found not responsible for Signifagance Oliver’s death by a Manhattan judge and was confined indefinitely in a mental institution.
• November 14, 2001 — Wright was charged in the drowning death of 4-year-old Signifagance Oliver; police said she drowned the child because she thought the girl was possessed.
• February 1999 — A paternal aunt petitioned for custody of the twins, and custody was granted.
• April 1999 — Child welfare officials in Virginia found in reports in April and December 1999 that the twins were doing well.
• December 1999 — New York authorities ceased monitoring the girls; the agency case was closed.

Other details

Wright told the judge she tried to bless her daughter with the water.

Police said Wright had at least two other children, a boy, 10, and a girl, 11, who were first taken away from her and put in foster care in 1992 after reports they had been physically abused.

In July 1997, the boy and girl were reunited with Wright following the birth of her half-sisters, but a short time after the reunion, all four children were taken from Wright after authorities received a report of domestic violence.

Jennifer Falk said the twins were placed in foster care shortly after their birth in 1997, that a paternal aunt petitioned for custody and custody was granted in February 1999, and that the twins then moved in with the aunt. Falk said in April and December 1999 child welfare officials in that state found the twins were doing well and the case was closed afterward.

In Wright’s November 14, 2001 charging description, it was said that it was unclear how long the twins had been under her supervision and how they ended up in her custody after being placed with the aunt.

Wright’s charge outcome at court was resolved via plea agreement. The plea agreement meant she was found not responsible because her severe mental illness prevented her from understanding her actions were wrong.

Wright was described as being in and out of psychiatric hospitals and being hospitalized again months before the drowning.