SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. — The Milton mother accused of murdering her 6-year-old daughter made her first court appearance Thursday afternoon via video call from her hospital bed.
40-year-old April Oliva is charged with the murder of Valerie Oliva.
Oliva allegedly stabbed her daughter over 20 times late Tuesday night at her Nowling Drive home. She then stabbed herself in the neck and stomach, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, which is why she remains hospitalized.
Oliva’s first appearance arraignment Thursday afternoon in Santa Rosa County Court was brief. Judge Matt Gordon appointed her a public defender and set her next court appearance — a pre-trial detention hearing — for Monday at 2:30 p.m.
It is still unclear how long Oliva will remain hospitalized. Once released, she will be booked into Santa Rosa County Jail.
According to the arrest report, Oliva called her sister Tuesday night around 11 p.m. “not making much sense, making comments about evil spirits” and saying “something bad happened.”
The report states her father drove to the home and found Oliva and the 6-year-old lying on the kitchen floor covered in blood. Authorities pronounced Valerie dead at the scene.
Court records show Oliva’s last previous arrest came in August 2006 — under her surname April Tuttle — when she was convicted in a vehicle burglary and petit theft case in Escambia County. Prior to that, she had a DUI and controlled substance possession case in August 2004 in Escambia County.
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