Investigators say a 6-year-old girl was killed inside her home before her mother was hospitalized and charged.
MILTON, Fla. — What began as a reported cutting incident just after midnight in a quiet Milton neighborhood has turned into a homicide prosecution after deputies said a 6-year-old girl was fatally stabbed inside her family’s home and her mother was later charged.
The case centers on the death of Valerie Oliva, a first-grade-age child whose killing shocked Santa Rosa County and quickly moved from an active crime scene to a murder charge. Investigators say her mother, April Oliva, was found beside or on top of the girl when deputies entered the home on Nowling Drive. The child died there. In the weeks that followed, Oliva was treated for her own wounds, appeared in court from a hospital bed, was booked into jail and then faced deeper court action as prosecutors pressed ahead.
Authorities have pieced together the early timeline through family calls, deputy reports and the physical scene inside the house. Investigators say April Oliva phoned her sister late on Feb. 24 and was not making sense, telling her that something bad had happened and referring to evil spirits. Concerned relatives moved quickly. Her father drove to the home in the 5000 block of Nowling Drive and, according to the arrest account, heard screaming from inside. Deputies were dispatched around midnight on Feb. 25 on a report of a cutting. When they arrived and went inside, they found the 6-year-old on the kitchen floor with severe injuries and found April Oliva lying with the child. Valerie was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators later said a kitchen knife was used and that the girl suffered more than 20 stab wounds.
The known record leaves some parts of that night sharply defined and other parts unsettled. Law enforcement has publicly identified the two central figures, the address block, the time deputies were called, the weapon investigators believe was used, and the broad account of who arrived at the home before police went in. Authorities have also said the child’s father was out of town for work and that no other adults or children were inside when the attack happened. But public documents have not explained why Valerie was targeted, whether there had been any warning signs in the hours before the killing, or whether detectives found evidence showing planning. They have not publicly described the condition of the home beyond the kitchen scene or released body-camera footage, interview recordings or a detailed probable-cause narrative beyond the arrest account summarized in news reports.
That mix of certainty and missing detail has shaped the story from the start. In a community where serious crime often draws immediate neighborhood talk, official statements have remained careful and spare. The sheriff’s office described the killing as a deeply tragic case and said the investigation was active and ongoing. Television and newspaper reports added that Oliva suffered wounds to her neck and stomach and was taken for medical treatment before her first court appearance. Her appearance by video from a hospital bed became one of the first images many residents saw of the case. It underscored that investigators were treating her not only as the defendant but also as someone who had been seriously injured at the scene. Still, officials have not publicly said whether those wounds were self-inflicted, incurred during the attack, or came from some other struggle inside the home.
The legal process then began moving in steps familiar to homicide cases but unusually swift in the public eye. A charge was prepared, Oliva appeared for the first time before a judge while still hospitalized, and she was later booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail. Local reports said a judge ordered her held after the defense waived a pretrial detention hearing. By March 24, a grand jury had indicted her, giving prosecutors a formal charging document for circuit court. From here, the case is expected to turn on evidence review, forensic testing, medical findings, witness statements from family members and any mental-health-related arguments raised by the defense. Court dates ahead are likely to include arraignment, motion hearings and, if the case is not resolved, trial preparation that may take months. The most important unanswered question remains the one that cannot be solved by scheduling alone: what exactly happened inside that home before the call for help.
The scene itself has remained central to the case’s emotional weight. The home on Nowling Drive sits in a residential area where family routines, school mornings and work commutes are the norm. That setting made the dispatch especially jarring. Neighbors waking to flashing lights, a blocked street and crime-scene activity were confronted with the kind of violence usually seen from a distance, not at the end of a familiar driveway. Officials have not described Valerie in public beyond her age and name, and family members have not broadly spoken on the record in published reports. That silence has left the hard facts to carry the story. A child was killed inside her own home. Her mother was the only person charged. Relatives were the first to realize something was wrong. And the county now faces the long legal process that follows a case with both criminal stakes and deep personal loss.
As of Tuesday, prosecutors had secured an indictment and Oliva remained in custody. The next phase is expected to bring formal court pleas, broader evidence exchange and a clearer timetable for how Santa Rosa County will try one of its most disturbing cases this year.
Author note: Last updated March 24, 2026.