‘I’m a Murderer!’ Florida Woman Smoked Laced Marijuana, Killed Her Mother and Then Gouged Out Her Eyes

A Florida woman was sentenced to 15 years behind bars in connection with the gruesome murder of her mother.

Around 1:40 a.m. on March 16, 2018, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office received a phone call from a person who said his co-worker, Camille Balla, needed the police to come over because Balla “believed she may have murdered her mother,” according to court documents.

Officials said the co-worker went to Balla’s residence in Royal Palm Beach and found her covered in blood, so he called 911.

When deputies arrived at the residence, they said Balla “appeared frantic” and told them: “I killed my mother and I need help.”

Balla told officers that her mother's body was in the garage. An officer went inside the home and found “a significant amount of blood spatter throughout the residence,” officials said.

The officer the located the victim, Francisca Monteiro-Balla, in the garage, partially clothed with “multiple large lacerations on her body.”

Court records show Monteiro-Balla’s eyes were “removed from her head and placed on a nearby cardboard box.”

Balla reportedly told officials she smoked marijuana, but believed it was laced with Flakka, a drug similar to bath salts, or PCP. According to police, she “continuously mumbled, screamed, ran around and eventually fell to the ground and began to scream, ‘I’m a murderer, I’m a murderer!'”

The murder suspect had lacerations on her body and cuts on her hands, knees and fingers.

Investigators searched the home and found a trail of blood leading from the living room through the kitchen and into the garage. They said Monteiro-Balla had “several large, deep lacerations, and traumatic injuries" that covered her body, including on her head, arms, chest, stomach and groin.”

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Detectives found broken glass, which they believed caused the cuts on Balla’s hands and knees. They also discovered notes with religious messages on them “related to clearing of the soul” as well as paper with marijuana on it, authorities said.

The trial for Balla was set to begin this month, but she recently pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a weapon, WPTV-TV reported. A judge sentenced her to 15 years in prison and another 15 years probation, officials said.

Balla has already served over 2,000 days since she has been in custody since her 2018 arrest. She now must serve less than 10 years in state prison.

Balla originally was charged with first-degree premeditated murder.