--- title: Ebony Wilkerson Bail Set At $1.2 Million After Driving Kids Into Ocean description: Pregnant mom made first court appearance Saturday on three charges of attempted murder canonical: https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-08T18:50:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:39:48.370Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Ebony Wilkerson Bail Set At $1.2 Million After Driving Kids Into Ocean og:description: Pregnant mom made first court appearance Saturday on three charges of attempted murder og:url: https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta833fae5c7bd3285/69868493361760e0e690ad03/ap800206522853.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ebony Wilkerson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebony Wilkerson Bail Set At $1.2 Million After Driving Kids Into Ocean twitter:description: Pregnant mom made first court appearance Saturday on three charges of attempted murder twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta833fae5c7bd3285/69868493361760e0e690ad03/ap800206522853.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bail Set At $1.2 Million For Mom Who Drove Kids Into Ocean ## Video: Watch: Mom Drives Kids and Minivan Into Ocean [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: Mom Drives Kids and Minivan Into Ocean](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZwkKD9e3.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2014-03-08. Rescuers describe seeing woman drive minivan into the ocean_ by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Mar 8, 2014 6:50 PM CUT  Ebony Wilkerson, left, talks to her assistant public defender Nora Hall during her first appearance before a Volusia County Court Judge, Saturday, March 8, 2014, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Ebony Wilkerson, left, talks to her assistant public defender Nora Hall during her first appearance before a Volusia County Court Judge, Saturday, March 8, 2014, in Daytona Beach, Fla.Jim Tiller—AP by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Mar 8, 2014 6:50 PM CUT A pregnant mother who drove a minivan into the Florida surf, carrying her young children with her into the waves, had [bail](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bail-set-1-2-million-minivan-mom-drown-children-article-1.1715076 "undefined") set for $1.2 million on Saturday. Ebony Wilkerson told her screaming kids to close their eyes and go to sleep as she steered the car at a dizzying speed into the ocean Friday, authorities said. On Friday, the South Carolina woman was charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder and child abuse with great harm, the New York _Daily News_ reports. Authorities said Wilkerson battled her nine-year-old son for control of the wheel before driving into the ocean, and then fought off rescuers who arrived on the scene to save her screaming children. “We almost drowned and she did that on purpose,” her 10-year-old daughter allegedly told investigators. Authorities said Wilkerson’s son said their mother was “acting like a lunatic” and “she was going to kill us all dead.” Wilkerson is said to have left her home in South Carolina with her children last Sunday to stay with her sister in Florida after reporting to local police that she had been attacked by her husband. \[[NY _Daily News_\]](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bail-set-1-2-million-minivan-mom-drown-children-article-1.1715076 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/"},"headline":"Bail Set At $1.2 Million For Mom Who Drove Kids Into Ocean","datePublished":"2014-03-08T18:50:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:39:48.370Z","description":"Ebony Wilkerson, a pregnant South Carolina woman, was charged with three counts of attempted murder and child abuse Friday after steering a minivan carrying her young children into the Florida surf Friday","url":"https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/","keywords":["Crime","Florida"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta833fae5c7bd3285/69868493361760e0e690ad03/ap800206522853.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta833fae5c7bd3285/69868493361760e0e690ad03/ap800206522853.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ebony Wilkerson","caption":"Ebony Wilkerson","creditText":"Jim Tiller—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/","name":"Bail Set At $1.2 Million For Mom Who Drove Kids Into Ocean"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: Mom Drives Kids and Minivan Into Ocean","description":"Rescuers describe seeing woman drive minivan into the ocean","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZwkKD9e3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-03-08T16:39:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZwkKD9e3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/16984/bail-set-at-1-2-million-for-mom-who-drove-kids-into-ocean/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```