Kimberly Lucas pleads guilty, sentenced to life in prison for killing ex-lover's toddler

South Florida woman drowned 2-year-old, tried to poison older brother in 2014

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ā€“ A South Florida woman accused of drowning her former partner's 2-year-old daughter has pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder.

Kimberly Lucas was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after agreeing to a plea deal that may have spared her life.

Lucas faced a possible death sentence for killing Elliana Lucas-Jamason in May 2014 and trying to poison the toddler's older brother.

Jupiter police said Lucas killed Elliana Lucas-Jamason and drugged her 10-year-old brother in an attempt to kill him as well.

Police said Lucas left a note on a computer saying she was "touched" by a sermon she heard in church and intended to kill the other child before killing herself. Instead, the boy found his sister dead in the bathtub and called 911.

According to the arrest report, the sermon that Lucas heard on the Sunday prior to the incident was from the book of Genesis, in which God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son. Abraham is prepared to do so, but God ultimately stops him.

Lucas has been in jail without bond. She had been recently estranged from the children's mother after a lengthy relationship at the time of the murder.