Chloe Driver found guilty of stabbing 13-month-old daughter to death

article

Chloe Driver (Credit: Cherokee County Sheriffs Office)

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. - A verdict has been reached in the trial of Chloe Driver, a mother from Cherokee County who was accused of stabbing her toddler daughter to death in December 2020.

The jury took less than three hours before finding the 24-year-old guilty, but mentally ill, of murdering 13-month-old Hannah Nicole Driver. The charges included malice murder, felony murder (aggravated assault), felony murder (cruelty to children in first degree), aggravated assault, and cruelty to children in the first degree.

The verdict of guilty but mentally ill means that the jury rejected Driver's insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.

She'll be sentenced for the crimes on Dec. 12. In the meantime, the Georgia Department of Corrections will be responsible for addressing her mental health needs.

Hannah Nicole Driver (Credit: Office of Cherokee County District Attorney)

SEE ALSO: 

• Day-by-day recap of Chloe Driver murder trial
• Video of conversation with husband after infant’s death
• Young Canton mother accused of stabbing of toddler to death
• Witness describes alternative lifestyle, beliefs
• Young Canton mother accused of stabbing of toddler to death
• Mother facing murder charges in stabbing death of toddler
• Toddler dead, young woman critically injured in stabbing in Canton

What happened to Hannah Nicole Driver?

Canton police were called to a home in the Mountain View neighborhood on Dec. 8, 2020.

Driver had stopped there with a group of two men, three women and a baby, believed to be part of a cult traveling from North Carolina to Florida.

Shortly after arriving at the home, officials said Driver took a knife from the kitchen, locked herself in a bedroom with her daughter and stabbed her before stabbing herself.

The baby's father allegedly attempted lifesaving measures until first responders arrived. Driver survived, but her baby was pronounced dead at the scene.

She had been stabbed four times with wounds to her right carotid artery, proximal esophagus, 4th cervical vertebra, and right upper back, according to the autopsy.

"The facts of this case are deeply disturbing, and our hearts go out to all who responded and provided care to 13-month-old Hannah Nicole Driver, an innocent little girl who was stabbed to death by her own mother," said District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway. "During the trial, jurors watched bodycam footage of Cherokee County first responders fighting for Hannah’s life. Canton Police officers, Cherokee County firefighters, and Northside Cherokee Hospital personnel demonstrated incredible dedication and compassion, even to the point of exposing themselves to horrific trauma that haunts them to this day."

Driver's trial took six days. A total of 21 witnesses testified, 15 of whom were called by the State. There were 135 pieces of evidence presented, including 911 calls, crime scene photos and the murder weapon.

Driver pleaded insanity, but the State made the case that she did not meet the criteria under Georgia law.

"No matter how hopeless you feel, no matter how desperate you feel, no matter how angry you feel, no matter how frustrated you feel, you don’t get to commit the act of murder, and that is the law," said Chief Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper in her closing argument. "That was a violent, heinous, horrible way to die. And I don’t care how bad your life is, you do not get to do that to this baby girl, and there be no consequences for you. She chose that life. Hannah did not. Hold her responsible."