Incident occurred in Indian Ridge community of west Osceola County
An Osceola woman is under arrest after Osceola County Sheriff's deputies say she admitted to trying to overdose her adult sons on medication.
Marilyn Elise Thennell, 68, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts each of attempted first degree murder and aggravated abuse of a disabled adult.
It stemmed from an incident on the morning of Sept. 8 when deputies responded to a residence on Indian Ridge Trail South in the Indian Ridge subdivision of western Osceola County off Old Lake Wilson Road. Deputies found three adults exhibiting signs of a drug overdose: Thennell and her 30 and 32-year-old autistic sons. The three were transported to Celebration Hospital for treatment of an overdose of medication.
As detectives investigated the circumstances surrounding the overdose, they suspected that it was intentional, Sheriff's Office spokesperson Capt. Kim Montes said. Evidence was collected at the residence, and interviews were conducted with a long-distance family member and landlord. Statements that were made by Therrell were consistent with intentionally providing medication to cause both her and her sons to fatally overdose, Montes said.
Detectives interviewed Thennell Thursday, when she admitted that since her husband died last year, it has become harder to take care of her adult sons. She admitted to detectives that she purposely overdosed her sons on medication, in an attempt to kill them, leading to her arrest.
Thennell is scheduled for an initial court appearance in front of a judge Friday afternoon.
