Mom charged with trying to kill baby plans insanity defense

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A Sioux Falls woman accused of trying to drown her baby plans to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

The Argus Leader reports an attorney for Julia Jacquelyn Alzoubaidi made the statement in a recent court filing before her trial scheduled for September. Judge Susan Sabers this week granted a prosecution request for a mental health evaluation.

Alzoubaidi was charged last October with attempted first-degree murder and felony child abuse after troopers responding to a crash off Interstate 229 near the Big Sioux River found her face down in the water and her 6-month-old infant near the bank. Both survived.

She told hospital staff she planned to kill her child and herself because she thought the baby had an attachment disorder and she felt she was an unfit mother.

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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com