CANTON, Ga. (Court TV) — A Tennessee woman has been convicted in Georgia for the stabbing death of her 13-month-old daughter.
Chloe Driver, accused in the death of her 13-month-old daughter, appears in court Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Court TV)
A jury found Chloe Driver, 24, guilty but mentally ill of all charges in the Dec. 2020 death of her daughter, Hannah Driver. Chloe was convicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, and aggravated assault.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12.
While responding to a 911 call, police discovered Chloe and Hannah in a bedroom, both suffering from stab wounds. Prosecutors said Chloe stabbed Hannah in the neck multiple times with a knife.
Chloe pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, stating in court documents, “the defendant was in the midst of a psychotic episode that included paranoia, delusional beliefs, hallucinations and disordered thinking.”
In opening statements, prosecutors said Chloe was one of three women married to Benyamin Ben-Michaeil (AKA Brian Joyce), who lived a nomadic and religious, polygamist lifestyle. Chloe’s defense said those beliefs, coupled with mental illness, led her to psychosis that resulted in the death of her daughter.
If you or someone you know is in a mental health emergency, text HOME to 741741 to contact the National Crisis Text Line. If you or someone you know is having a maternal mental health crisis, know you are not alone, and you can get help by visiting Postpartum Support International.
DAILY TRIAL UPDATES
DAY 7 – 11/20/24
- The jury finds Chloe Driver guilty but mentally ill on all charges in the death of Hannah Driver.
DAY 6 – 11/19/24
- The presentation of evidence in the guilt phase concluded on Tuesday
- Jurors began their deliberations Tuesday afternoon and had not reached a verdict before they were sent home just after 6:00 p.m. ET.
- An independent expert, Dr. Jacquelyn Zahm, a forensic psychologist, testified that her findings would have led her to diagnose Chloe Driver with Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder, consistent with two other psychologists who interviewed Driver following the crime.
- During the state’s closing arguments, Assistant Deputy District Attorney Katie Gropper said that [Chloe Driver] is “not delusional, and she is aware of her state of mind” during the crime she committed against her daughter. Evidence shows that Driver had the presence of mind and understood the consequences of killing her daughter.
- Defense attorney Angela Trethaway told jurors in her closing arguments that the events that led up to Hannah Nicole’s death began with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness, adding that there is evidence in the case that Chloe Driver was seeking help and was unable to distinguish right and wrong.
- Jurors heard two jailhouse phone calls between Driver and her mother, Renee Driver. The two discussed the large sum of money that Chloe obtained from a PPE (COVID) loan and transferring money to Benyamin Ben-Michael, Hannah’s father.
DAY 5 – 11/18/24
- Chloe Driver informs the court that she does not wish to testify in her murder trial.
- Chloe Driver’s mother, Renee Driver, told jurors that she tried multiple times to convince her daughter to stay home and not return to Benyamin Ben-Michael.
- Jurors heard from a second psychologist who diagnosed Chloe Driver with Schizo-Effect Bi-Polar Type and Borderline Personality Disorder.
- Benyamin Ben-Michael’s former partner, Gabriella Kuykendall, testified that she too met Ben-Michael when she was 17 years old. He was 33 years old at the time. She suffered mental and physical abuse before she decided to leave Ben-Michael for good.
- WATCH: Cult Baby Murder Trial: Key Witnesses Testify for the Defense
- WATCH: Witness Describes Getting Punched While Trying to Help Chloe Driver
DAY 4 – 11/15/24
- Chloe Driver stopped taking her medication two to three months before the incident involving her daughter, Hannah.
- Forensic psychologist Dr. McLendon Garrett testified for the defense and diagnosed Driver with schizophrenia, delusions and borderline personality disorder.
- Garrett said Driver became “concerned” with having a normal life for her daughter and described how she tried to obtain a birth certificate for Hannah.
- Driver told Dr. Garrett that Beyamin Ben-Michael would not allow her to speak to anyone and monitored her phone calls with her parents.
- WATCH: Dr.: Driver Killed Her Baby After Someone Threw a Dirty Shirt at Her
- WATCH: Day 4 Livestream
Day 3 – 11/14/24
- Jurors see videos of Chloe Driver’s interviews with police while in the hospital. While recovering from her injuries, she could only write her response to the investigator’s questions.
- Chloe Driver asked Detective Taina Cruz, through a written note the day after her daughter’s death, “How long will my prison sentence be for killing her?” In another note, she wrote, “I’m sorry I killed her. I should have stayed,” referencing her parents driving to North Carolina to take her home.
- Detective Cruz said there was no evidence that someone else stabbed her daughter, Hannah Nicole Driver.
- Driver’s mother emailed a video to Detective Cruz of Chloe Driver begging for help getting her daughter back from her child’s father, Benyamin Ben-Michael, aka Brian Joyce. Driver’s mother thought it would be helpful to the case.
- From November 30 to December 2, 2020, Chloe Driver searched “how to snap a neck?” two weeks before the incident. She also searched for “how to obtain a birth certificate for a baby” and “traveling with a baby.”
- Chloe Driver made 617 jailhouse phone calls to Benyamin Ben-Michael, Hannah’s father, from February 5, 2021, to May 5, 2023.
- WATCH: Day 3 Livestream
Day 2 – 11/13/24
- A pediatric forensic pathologist told jurors that Hannah Nicole Driver succumbed to her injuries within minutes of being stabbed by her mother, Chloe Alexis Driver. Hannah suffered four stab wounds, three to her neck and one to her upper back.
- Jurors heard testimony from Jason Spillars, someone who knows and traveled with Chloe Driver. He described Driver as a sweet and loving mother but would transition into “delusional and psychotic” episodes and struggled with mental illness often.
- Chloe Driver was in the hospital ten days following the incident before she told medical professionals she suffered from delusions. Before then, Driver asked questions about “How long will she serve in prison?” and refused to go to physical therapy to learn how to walk again because “she will be sitting in a jail cell.”
- WATCH: Day 2 Livestream
Day 1 – 11/12/24
- Katie Gropper, Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney delivers the State’s opening statements.
- Gropper said that “[Chloe Driver] is not a weak-minded person….and does not meet the standard of criminal insanity.”
- Prosecutors told jurors that Chloe Driver was not mentally ill when she decided to murder her 13-month-old daughter, Hannah Nicole Driver.
- Defense attorney Angela Trethaway delivers the opening statements on behalf of Chloe Driver.
- Driver’s defense attorney say that she was indoctrinated in a polygamist ideology by her 38-year-old boyfriend, Brian Joyce who also goes by the name Benyamin Ben-Michael, and suffered years of abuse.
- Driver took a paring knife from a butcher block in the kitchen of the home, grabbed her daughter, locked themselves in an upstairs bedroom where she committed the heinous act of murdering her daughter.
- Chloe Driver has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity during the time of the incident.
- WATCH: Day 1 Livestream
