Lawyer: Woman who drove into ocean had disorder

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — (AP) Attorneys say a mental disorder kept a pregnant South Carolina woman from knowing the difference between right and wrong at the time she's accused of driving her minivan into the Atlantic Ocean with her children inside.

Defense attorneys for 32-year-old Ebony Wilkerson filed a motion of intent to use an insanity defense. Public Defender James Purdy told the Daytona Beach News-Journal Monday that experts will testify that the 32-year-old from North Charleston, South Carolina, had a mental disease or defect in March, when she drove into the surf off Daytona Beach.

Purdy says the motion doesn't necessarily mean they'll use insanity as a defense, adding that not guilty remains the "number one" priority.

According to the motion, attorneys expect to prove Wilkerson had schizophrenia and a psychotic disorder.

WSOC