Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for a St. Petersburg woman accused of suffocating her 4-year-old son in January, court records show.
Diana Cullom is charged with first-degree murder after police say her 16-year-old daughter found her lying in a bloody bed with the boy at their Tanglewood home on Jan. 27. The boy had been suffocated with a plastic bag, and Cullom had self-inflicted stab wounds, court records state.
Cullom, 44, was arrested after being treated at the hospital. Records show she’s being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bond.
The state’s notice of intent to seek the death penalty comes after Cullom’s attorneys asked the court to allow her to undergo a mental health evaluation to determine whether she is competent to stand trial.
The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office did not respond to multiple phone calls seeking comment Wednesday. Cullom’s defense attorneys, Daviana Braniff and J. Kevin Hayslett, also did not respond to a request for comment.
A hearing about the status of Cullom’s competence is scheduled for Monday.
Relatively few women have spent time on Florida’s death row. As of Wednesday, just one of the 247 people on death row were women, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. Only 15 women have ever been sentenced to death in the state, but many of their sentences were commuted or they were resentenced to life in prison.
Of the 129 executions Florida has carried out since 1979, just two have been women.
Court records filed so far do not offer more details about Cullom’s case, including a potential motive. But the state’s notice lays out five aggravating factors that prosecutors believe they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt to convict Cullom of the killing and send her to death row.
The first factor is that the suffocation occurred “after committing or attempting to commit aggravated child abuse.” The second factor is that the felony was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.”
Then, the state alleges that the homicide was “cold, calculated, and premeditated.”
The final factors are that the victim was less than 12 years old and “particularly vulnerable” because Cullom “stood in a position of familial or custodial authority” over him.
At a news conference outside the family’s home on Tanglewood Drive Northeast in January, St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway said Cullom’s daughter found a knife on the floor and a note that appeared to have been written by her mother. The contents of the note have not been released.
Cullom’s husband, Damian Cullom,owns Crescent Lake Family Dentistry in St. Petersburg. The practice’s website still lists Diana Cullom as part of the team.
“Diana assisted her husband opening Crescent Lake Family Dentistry,” her profile on the website states. “She oversaw the construction/renovation of the 1920 building from start to finish. Her goal for his practice is to provide a warm and inviting atmosphere making patients feel at ease while receiving top-notch, personalized, quality care. She and Dr. Cullom have four wonderful children.”
Reached by phone Wednesday,a dental assistant told the Tampa Bay Times that she could not comment about the status of Diana Cullom’s involvement with the practice.
The dentistry had cars in the parking lot Wednesday morning, and signs out front said the practice was accepting new patients.
Property records show Diana and Damian Cullom own the Tanglewood home. A Zillow listing shows it went up for sale in January for $1.3 million. It remains on the market.