Mississippi mother fled state after 'suicide pact' with 10-year-old daughter – but only the girl took sleeping pills

A Mississippi mother forced her 10-year-old daughter into a suicide pact and gave the little girl sleeping pills even though she wasn’t taking any herself, authorities said.

Ocean Springs Police Chief Ryan Lemaire said police issued an arrest warrant for 37-year-old Brittney Leigh Hensley in September, two months after the incident. The Biloxi Sun Herald reported this Thursday.

She was eventually taken into custody in Huntsville, Alabama, on October 15 and extradited to Mississippi this week.

Lemaire said Hensley fled the state shortly after police responded to a medical emergency at the extended-stay motel where she and her daughter were staying in July.

“She had a suicide pact with her daughter, and the daughter took the pills, but she didn’t,” Lemaire said. “So the mother started to panic when her daughter wouldn’t wake up.”

Paramedics took the victim to a local hospital and told police about the suicide pact when she regained consciousness.

Hensley was scheduled to meet with investigators and child protective services, but fled to Alabama, where she has family, before that meeting took place.

Hensley has been charged with aggravated child abuse, Law and Crime saidand is being held on a $500,000 bond.

The little girl is still in the custody of Child Protective Services.

Hensley was previously accused of defrauding TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, in 2022. WAAY reported. The disposition of that case is unknown.

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(Featured image: Brittany Leigh Hensley/Jackson County Sheriff’s Office)