Marianne Bordt, 71, Drowns Five-Year-Old Grandson, Camden Hiers, Over His Parents' Divorce

Marianne Bordt, 71, drowns grandson, Camden Hiers, 5, because she didn't want him to grow up in divorced home.

Marianne Bordt, 71, has been arrested and charged with drowning her five-year old grandson, Camden Hiers, while they were vacationing on St. George Island, located about 60 miles southwest of Tallahassee. According to authorities, she killed the child because she didn't want to see him grow up in a divorced home. She reportedly tried to commit suicide after the drowning on Monday by wading into the Gulf of Mexico wearing heavy clothes, the police said. What would possess this woman to commit such an unspeakable act of violence against an innocent child?

Bordt, who is from Nufringen, Germany, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death child. According to WSBTV, the boy's parents had joint custody of him after they divorced in 2006, but he lived mostly with his mother, who is Bordt's daughter, in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Ga. His father, David Hiers, lives nearby.

Bordt's husband, Heinz, told police he came back from shopping to find his wife returning from the beach sopping wet from the neck down, clad in a red jacket and long underwear.

"Mr. Bordt said that when he went into the house he saw his grandson partial(ly) submerged lying in the bathtub with his face in the water," according to a sworn statement by Franklin County Sheriff's Lt. Ronnie Segree wrote. "Mr. Bordt pulled him out of the bathtub placing him on the living room floor."

His wife tried to run away from the two-story condominium building, but he forced her into the car and the couple drove to the local fire station, Segree wrote. The boy was dead when authorities arrived. Source: WSB-TV

It is extremely hard to think that an elderly person is capable of such a heinous crime. Marianne Bordt is being held without bond at the Franklin County Jail. Since she tried to kill herself before, she has reportedly been placed under a suicide watch. It is a shame that at 71 years old, Mrs. Bordt is looking spending the rest of her life behind bars. The German Consulate has been apprised of the situation. A grand jury will review her case and issue an indictment before she can be charged with first-degree murder, which is punishable by either death or life in prison in the state of Florida.

Photo credit: Marianne Bordt, WSB-TV