The murder trial started this week for a Tennessee woman accused of  fatally stabbing her 13-month-old in 2020 while staying at a home in Cherokee County, Georgia.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Chloe Driver is accused of killing her toddler daughter, Hannah, inside a Canton home in December 2020,  before Driver was hospitalized with her own self-inflicted injuries.

Driver is facing multiple charges, including felony murder with malice, cruelty to children, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault.

While responding to a 911 call, police discovered Driver and Hannah in an upstairs bedroom of the home, with stab wounds.

Driver has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, stating in court documents that she experienced a psychotic episode marked by paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thinking. Her defense highlighted her nomadic lifestyle and noted that several witnesses could speak to her mental health decline leading up to Hannah’s death.

Court TV reports that during opening statements Monday, prosecutors described Driver as one of three wives of Benyamin Ben-Michaeil, who practiced a nomadic and religious polygamist lifestyle. The defense contended that Driver’s beliefs, combined with mental illness, drove her into psychosis, while the prosecution claimed that Driver “understood the wrongfulness of her actions.”

Driver allegedly grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen, then walked up to the bedroom, where she locked the door before stabbing the baby and then stabbing her own self in the neck.

The prosecution stated that Hannah had been stabbed four times in the neck and once in the back, adding that Driver made incriminating search queries prior to the stabbing.

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[Feature photo: Chloe Driver/Handout]