Woman imprisoned for stabbing son

• Tweet

LARGO, Fla., March 14 (UPI) -- A Florida woman who stabbed her 15-year-old son during a supervised visitation was sentenced to life in prison.

Celeste Minardi of Dunedin, Fla., committed a premeditated act when she met her son Bradley Driscoll in 2008 at a doctor's office for a regular and supervised visit, agreed to when she lost custody of him in a 2005 divorce, and stabbed him with a 15-inch ornamental dagger and a 12-inch drywall knife, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Nancy Ley ruled Tuesday.

Driscoll, now a 19-year-old business major at the University of Miami, testified he had taken NyQuil cold medication on the day of the attack, and fell asleep on the doctor's couch during the meeting.

"I woke up to one of the knives plunged into my stomach," he said. Standing up, he said he saw his mother with the knives in her hands.

The Tampa Bay Times reported Minardi has a history of mental health problems, and offered apologies to her son and to the court at trial.

Mental health authorities testified Minardi suffers from bipolar and personality disorders, among other problems. She was charged with first degree attempted murder.