A former child services employee has been arrested and charged with murder after her teenage daughter was discovered lifeless on the floor and showing evidence of serious abuse, according to police.
Diane Natasha Mack, 34, has been arrested in connection with the death of the 13-year-old, who was discovered unresponsive in her Sebring, Fla., home last week, according to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the statement, police arrived at the apartment early on Friday, Nov. 15, and discovered the victim motionless on the floor near the door. Mack allegedly told police she found the youngster lifeless on Thursday morning before revising her story to claim she found the infant that afternoon.
Mack allegedly transported four other children from her home to a residence in Titusville, roughly two and a half hours away, before returning home and phoning police, according to the statement.
Sheriff Paul Blackman also claimed that the teenager, whose name has not been revealed, was discovered “nude except for a diaper,” with obvious evidence of abuse.
“She was quite thin and clearly malnourished. Her body was covered in wounds in various stages of healing, including open lacerations that had evidently recently occurred,” Blackman claimed in the statement.
According to the statement, investigators discovered that the child had been kept away in the residence’s garage and was being homeschooled. It was unclear how long the toddler had been inside the garage.
Blackman further claimed that Mack used pool chlorine to “destroy evidence” in the garage, while the victim “lay dead on the floor,” before dialing 911.
Mack, the victim’s adoptive mother, had worked for the Department of Children and Families. Blackman stated that her experience working with children made the claims even more alarming.
According to authorities, she worked as a guardian ad litem, which is someone designated by the court to advocate on behalf of an individual or child who is unable to appropriately represent themselves.
“That someone whose job it was to look after the welfare of children could treat their own child in this manner is simply beyond belief,” according to Blackman.
Mack has been charged with first-degree murder while engaging in aggravated child abuse, kidnapping, and evidence destruction, according to the sheriff’s office.
She is being held in the Highlands County Jail without bond, according to online jail records.
It was unclear whether Mack had entered pleas or hired an attorney to speak on her behalf.
If you suspect child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week in over 170 languages.