Records: Girl who tried to kill mom had troubled family life

As authorities continue to sift through the family history of an 11-year-old girl accused of plotting to kill her mother by burning her alive, court records show that trouble brewed in the household long before the girl was even born.

Nancy Broadhead, the girl's mother, struggled with alcohol addiction and neglected her son Zachary, who was about 2 years old at the time, according to a paternity suit filed in 1995.

During a custody battle for Zachary, father John F. Busby told authorities Broadhead was constantly drunk and let their son wander through her Clearwater neighborhood unattended, court records show.

Broadhead accused Busby of being a deadbeat father with a history of alcohol and drug abuse, the documents state.

A guardian ad litem appointed to the case said Busby has had problems in the past but overcame his addictions while Broadhead had a drinking problem. The guardian ad litem, who called Zachary a bright, polite child, recommended that Busby get custody and Broadhead receive counseling.

In September 1996, a judge upheld that recommendation and added Broadhead should not be left alone with the child, court documents state.

Broadhead has also been accused in the past of abusing or neglecting her daughter, according to court records.

She was charged in July 2002 with driving under the influence of alcohol with her then 4-year-old daughter in the car. Her blood alcohol level was reported as higher than 0.25 percent.

Florida law presumes impairment at 0.08.

After pleading guilty to driving under the influence and child neglect, she was sentenced to 18 months of probation and ordered to attend parenting classes and multiple-offender DUI school, records state. Adjudication of guilt was withheld.

Then, in 2005, two other cases were brought, one charging her with domestic battery and the other involving a charge of child abuse. Both of those cases were dropped by the Pinellas State Attorney's Office.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett said he didn't know why the charges were dropped, but said the reason probably was either because DCF had stepped in or because it involved an issue of a parent disciplining a child.

According to court records, the domestic battery charge involved an allegation she was hitting her then 7-year-old daughter. When the girl attempted to stop her mother, Broadhead slapped her across the face and continued hitting her, the complaint states.

The child abuse complaint states that Broadhead was intoxicated and "began beating her child repeatedly with her hands." When Broadhead's live-in boyfriend tried to stop her, he was also battered, the complaint states.

The child told authorities that her "mother repeatedly hits her, and as a result, [she] is in fear of continued living conditions."

Broadhead declined to speak today with reporters.

She suffered serious burns and smoke inhalation after the fire Tuesday night at her home at 1580 Huntington Lane. She was released this afternoon from Tampa General Hospital. Today is Broadhead's 48th birthday.

Authorities said her daughter and Ault poured gas on the mother's bed and floor and then lighted it. They said the couple then drove off in the mother's car.

Police are unsure what caused the incident. The mother and daughter had argued the night before over whether the girl had stolen cigarettes from her mother.

Her daughter's 15-year-old boyfriend, accused of conspiring in the plot to kill Broadhead, was ordered this morning to remain with juvenile authorities.

Bartlett said it was too early to know whether the two would be charged as adults. He said it would be highly unusual to charge an 11-year-old as an adult. "We're very conservative about charging children under the age of 14" as adults, he added. "I don't think we ever have charged someone that age as an adult."

Charging a 15-year-old as an adult is something else, Bartlett said. That would not be unusual, particularly when the teen has had prior involvement with the juvenile justice system.

Bartlett said the decision about charging teenager Jack Ault and girlfriend Samantha Broadhead, 11, would probably be made in about two weeks at the conclusion of an investigation.

Pinellas-Pasco County Circuit Judge Irene Sullivan ordered that Ault continue to be held after an advisory first appearance in juvenile court.

Ault and Samantha Broadhead, 11, were charged Tuesday with attempted homicide and arson resulting in injury.

Samantha Broadhead is undergoing psychiatric assessment under the state's Baker Act and didn't make an initial appearance.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Children and Families said the agency has an "extensive family history" of cases involving the girl and Ault, but no open cases.