GRUESOME Discovery: Toddler Found With 20 Stab Wounds!

A Florida mother’s incoherent late-night phone call about “evil spirits” led family members to discover her lying atop her six-year-old daughter’s bloodied body, a kitchen knife nearby, and over twenty stab wounds ending a young life in an isolated Milton home.

Story Snapshot

April Oliva, 40, charged with murder after allegedly stabbing her daughter Valerie over 20 times in their Milton, Florida home on February 25, 2026
Oliva called her sister speaking incoherently about “evil spirits” before the child’s grandfather discovered both on the kitchen floor covered in blood
The mother sustained self-inflicted wounds to her neck and stomach and appeared in court via video from her hospital bed
Investigators have not released a motive, and the case remains under active investigation with a pre-trial detention hearing scheduled

The Discovery That Shattered a Family

Steven Tuttle rushed to his daughter’s home on Nowling Drive in Milton after receiving an alarming call from another daughter. April Oliva had phoned her sister around 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 25, speaking incoherently about evil spirits and indicating something terrible had occurred. When Tuttle arrived, he found a scene no parent should witness: his daughter and granddaughter sprawled on the kitchen floor, blood everywhere, a kitchen knife in the dining room. Law enforcement arrived shortly after midnight to find April lying on top of six-year-old Valerie’s body.

A Violent Attack With No Clear Motive

Valerie Oliva suffered more than twenty stab wounds, including wounds to her neck, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The kitchen knife recovered from the dining room is believed to be the murder weapon. April Oliva had also inflicted serious wounds to her own neck and stomach, injuries Chief Deputy Randy Tifft confirmed were self-inflicted. The child’s father was out of town on business when the attack occurred, leaving mother and daughter alone in the home. Santa Rosa County investigators describe the case as “deeply tragic” but have released no information about what drove a mother to kill her child.

A Criminal Past But No Violence

Court records reveal April Oliva’s prior encounters with the law, though none involved violent crimes. In August 2006, she was convicted of vehicle burglary and petit theft in Escambia County under her maiden name, April Tuttle. Two years earlier, in 2004, she faced charges for DUI and controlled substance possession in the same county. These offenses suggest struggles with substance abuse and poor judgment, but nothing in her criminal history foreshadowed the brutal violence that would claim her daughter’s life. No records indicate prior domestic disputes, child abuse reports, or mental health interventions.

The Mental Health Question Nobody Can Answer

The reference to “evil spirits” during April’s phone call raises immediate questions about her mental state at the time of the attack. Was this a psychotic break? Untreated mental illness? Drug-induced delusion? Investigators have released no information about toxicology results, psychiatric history, or whether warning signs existed that family members or authorities missed. The gap between property crimes and substance issues in 2004-2006 and the murder of a child in 2026 is vast. What happened in those intervening years remains unknown. The absence of disclosed mental health treatment or crisis intervention history either means none existed or investigators are withholding that information pending trial.

Justice System Moves Forward As Questions Linger

April Oliva made her first court appearance on Thursday, February 27, via video call from her hospital bed where she continues to receive treatment for her self-inflicted wounds. Judge Matt Gordon appointed a public defender to represent her and scheduled a pre-trial detention hearing for Monday, March 3, at 2:30 p.m. Upon medical release, she will be transferred to Santa Rosa County Jail. She faces a murder charge that, depending on prosecutorial decisions and trial outcomes, could result in life imprisonment or capital punishment under Florida law. The rapid judicial response demonstrates the system functioning as designed, but the unanswered questions about motive and mental state will likely dominate legal proceedings.

The Milton community grapples with a crime that defies easy explanation. A six-year-old child is dead at her mother’s hands, a grandfather traumatized by what he discovered, and a father returning from a business trip to unimaginable loss. Detectives continue processing evidence and conducting interviews, searching for answers that may never fully satisfy our need to understand how a parent could commit such violence. The investigation remains active, but no amount of evidence can restore what was taken from Valerie Oliva or explain away the horror her family now carries.