PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who made headlines when she was just 11 years old for trying to kill her mother is back in trouble with the law. This time, she’s accused of conspiracy in a child sex trafficking case.
- Samantha Broadhead charged with attempted murder at age 11, sentenced to probation
- Attorney for Broadhead said her action driven by years of abuse
- More Pinellas County stories
In 2009, Samantha Broadhead doused her mother’s bed with gasoline while she slept and then set it on fire. Her attorney at the time, Roger Futerman, argued that the crime was the result of years of abuse.
Broadhead was 12 years old when a judge sentenced her to probation in the attempted murder case.
“When she was 12 years of age the state charged her — kind of unprecedented — with attempted murder,” Futerman said. “And at first there was this visceral gut reaction that this was some evil young child 12 years of age. We looked a little deeper at what was the cause and effect of her actions and the cause and effect of her actions were her mother’s actions towards her.”
Futerman said child welfare documents detailed how Broadhead was abused since birth by her mother.
Samantha Broadhead, now 21, is facing charges of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor and attempted sex trafficking of a minor. (Pinellas County Jail)
Presently, Broadhead, 21, and her co-defendant, Michael Davis, are charged with conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor and attempted sex trafficking of a minor from December 2017 to January 2018, according to a federal indictment. The indictment does not detail the alleged crime or the age of the child or children involved.
Futerman said if the allegations are true he believes abuse is likely the cause of these crimes, too.
“She’s presumed innocent but often people that commit crimes like this, a lot of the issues in their early childhood, their parenting or lack of, cause future problems, criminal problems being some of them, “ he said. “Studies and statistics have shown it’s very difficult for people to succeed when they’ve had such a brutal upbringing.”
Broadhead has pleaded not guilty in the federal case. She could learn her fate in this case in April.