A Georgia mother who believed she was “pouring” evil into her baby when breastfeeding her has been convicted of killing the child.
Chloe Driver, 24, brutally stabbed her 13-month-old daughter Hannah to death. Prosecutors alleged throughout her trial that Driver was motivated to kill Hannah because she wanted her husband, the baby’s father, all to herself.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper told the court that Driver’s husband had two other wives and that their polygamist group had “radical views” and lived a lifestyle of “alternative” healing practices that included drinking their own urine.
A jury heard how Driver struggled with an unstable childhood, a history of mental illness and was enduring an “abusive and oppressive” marriage when she said she finally “snapped” and stabbed her baby and herself in December 2020.
Defense attorneys attempted to paint a picture of a woman who was abused and coerced by her alleged cult leader husband. They claimed a combination of her mental illness and extreme beliefs resulted in the baby’s death.
Driver had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of malice murder, felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, and aggravated assault.
But at the end of a six-day trial, and just three hours of deliberation, a jury found her found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but mentally ill on all charges – which means they rejected Driver’s insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.
The murder of baby Hannnah
Police responded to a home in Canton, Georgia on December 8, 2020, to find a mother and her baby daughter with stab wounds inside a bedroom.
Driver was lying on a mattress next to blood covered baby Hannah, holding her hand. Both were rushed to the hospital where the baby died from her injuries.
Police said Driver had taken a knife from the butcher block in the kitchen, locked herself and her baby in the bedroom and stabbed her repeatedly.
They were found by the baby’s father, Benyamin Ben Michael, also known as Brian Joyce or “Z” – who allegedly let out a “blood-curdling scream” as he cried to Driver, “what did you do?”
Driver was married to the man who also had two other wives.
Dr. Carli Blomquist, an emergency room doctor who tended to Hannah, told the court during Driver’s trial that the baby was “empty of blood” when she was brought in.
‘She wanted him to herself’
A letter allegedly written by Driver was shared in court during her trial that revealed her chilling confession about the murder.
“He didn’t do it. I did it,” she had written, referring to her husband, Ben Michael. “I was going insane and no longer wanted to be with his friends but kept coming back for him. I only wanted my baby and husband but he refused.”
The prosecution told the court that, “she wanted to be with him and he was never going to give up his polygamist cult lifestyle that they had adopted.”
But the defense said the claim that Driver killed the child to get Ben Michael all to herself “defies logic” because she would have also killed the other wives.
“If she wanted him to herself, wouldn’t she have gotten rid of the competition?” the defense pointed out.
Before the jury was sent out to make a decision, the defense urged them to find her guilty by reason of insanity, arguing that Driver was in a delusional state at the time of the baby’s death and that she was not able to distinguish right from wrong.
“Justice for Hannah in this case is getting her mother the treatment she needs,” they said.
Did a polygamist cult drive Chloe Driver to murder?
In the months leading up to the murder of baby Hannah, Driver said she was “seeing signs” that convinced her Ben Michael and the other wives wanted her to kill herself and her child, according to Dr. McLendon Garrett.
Dr. Garrett, a forensic psychologist who conducted an interview with Driver following the murder, testified for the defense, arguing that the mother suffered from paranoia and had experienced delusions before her baby’s death.
Driver was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder, and cannabis use disorder. She attributed Driver’s mental health struggles to a traumatic childhood and abusive relationships.
“She had a very unstable childhood,” Dr. Garrett said. "Her family was cold, and she left them multiple times—living with boys, even leaving the state to move in with one. She experienced suicidal ideation early on and engaged in self-harm, including cutting and attempting to overdose on sleeping pills.”
Driver then met her husband when she was just 17 years old and he was 38, and then became part of a nomadic religious group led by her husband, who Dr. Garrett said she believed played a pivotal role in her mental state.
“She was incredibly isolated,” Dr. Garrett said. “She wasn’t allowed to speak to others unless it was for recruitment purposes. She couldn’t go to stores, use money, or have a phone without supervision. Her only jobs lasted about two weeks, and those were out of necessity.”
The group are strict vegans who followed unorthodox health practices that included drinking their own urine, according to witness testimony.
Driver also told the doctor about the control she was under and how she would face punishment, which included “dark therapy,” where she was confined to a bed, the windows covered, denied bathroom access, and forced to urinate on herself.
After Driver gave birth to Hannah, she began to question the group’s teachings, specifically about the lack of the child’s care, including vaccinations, and simply - a birth certificate.
“She was concerned her baby wouldn’t have a normal life,” Dr. Garrett said. “But realized she wasn’t going to get that with Ben Michael.”
Driver’s paranoia and delusions intensified, but when she asked the other wives for help, they reportedly gave her CBD oil, which allegedly only intensified the tendencies, Dr. Garrett said.
She felt like the wives ganged up on her and made her believe that she and the baby were “sinful.”
“She believed she was downloading her sin – all the bad parts about her – into her child through breastfeeding,” Dr. Garrett said. “She also talked about pouring her sin into the child.”
“There was a lot of evidence that she really believed by having a child with somebody who was married -- by having the child in this sort of open relationship -- that it was a sin and that she passed that sin on to her daughter,” Dr. Garrett added. “And so they shared that -- that they were both embodiments of sin.”
When asked what Dr. Garrett believed to be the “specific trigger” that pushed her over the edge, she said Driver told her she was upset when Ben Michael threw a dirty shirt at her when she said she needed something clean so she could change Hannah.
That incident was potentially “the straw that broke the camel’s back” after months of delusions, Dr. Garrett said.
"She was incredibly isolated and mentally unwell," she added. "Her relationship with the group and its dynamics created a perfect storm."
A perfect storm that eventually led to Hannah’s tragic death.
“From that moment on, I snapped,” Driver told Dr. Jacquelyn Zahm, who also evaluated her after the murder.
Disturbing claims of ‘dark therapy’ and urine drinking
In a bizarre portion of testimony, Driver’s friend took the stand in an orange prison jumpsuit and told the court of Driver’s polygamous lifestyle and their unorthodox health rituals.
Jason Spillars, who faces charges in a separate case in North Carolina, painted the household of Ben Michael as “harmonious and supportive,” but a patriarchal one with the man in charge because men are “better decision-makers, they can regulate their emotions in a way that women cannot, and they’re just better leaders,” he said.
Spillars gave an inside look at the group’s polygamous lifestyle, with shocking claims that they participated in rituals such as drinking urine and the isolating “dark therapy.”
Despite this, he said all three women who were married to Ben Michael were content in their roles and that Driver’s involvement was voluntary and based on shared beliefs, not coercion.
Spillars testified that his friend had previously gone through cycles of mental distress, and that in the months leading up to Hannah’s murder, her delusion and paranoia had increased.
He then became emotional on the stand as he recounted what he witnessed on the day of the baby’s murder. He recalled walking into the room to find Ben Michael doing CPR on Hannah and seeing blood everywhere.
As he applied pressure to Driver’s stab wounds, he said he remembered his friend telling him, “Stop, I’m supposed to die.” Spillars then broke down in sobs as he insisted that Driver was a good mother who loved her daughter.
Her mom begged her to come home
Driver’s mother Renee said she and other family members tried desperately to convince her to leave Ben Michael, but nothing could sway her.
“I did everything I could to get her to stay with me, but it didn’t work,” Renee told the court as she became emotional.
After baby Hannah was born, their contact was “minimal,” but Renee said she knew Driver “was a very good mother and she loved her daughter.”
Driver wiped away tears and her lips trembled as her mother testified.
After Hannah was born, Renee said she’d reiterated that her daughter and granddaughter could move in, but Ben Michael was not welcome because Renee “didn’t want anything to do with him.”
Renee said in July 2020 she started noticing changes in her daughter, describing her as being in a zombie-like state and not herself.
“Nothing really changed with Hannah -- just her,” Renee said. “She was just falling apart. I mean, she was literally just falling apart, but at that time, I wasn’t so much paying attention to her because, I mean, I had Hannah, too, and I was just so excited every time I got to see Hannah.”
The verdict
For six days, jurors listened to testimony from 21 witnesses and viewed graphic crime scene photos before being sent out to decide Driver’s fate.
The young mother appeared emotionless as the verdict was read in court on Wednesday.
She was found guilty, but mentally ill, of murdering her baby girl.
The “guilty but mentally ill” verdict means that the jury rejected her insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.
Driver will be sentenced on December 12. Until then, Driver will be in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections, which will be responsible for addressing her mental health needs.
