A woman accused of driving a minivan into the Atlantic Ocean with her three children in Florida was arrested Friday on three counts of attempted first-degree murder , Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said . Investigators say they think Ebony Wilkerson was trying to kill her children -- ages 3 , 9 and 10 -- when she drove into the surf Tuesday in Daytona Beach , Johnson said . `` She actually told them to close their eyes and go to sleep , she was taking them to a better place , '' he said . Bystanders and beach rangers went into the water and rescued the children , witnesses and police said . Wilkerson tried to keep rescuers from pulling her children from the minivan and at one point was fighting her son for control of the steering wheel , Johnson said . Johnson said Wilkerson told investigators she was trying to drive out of the surf , not into it , and has denied trying to harm her children . Tim Tesseneer was driving along Daytona Beach on Tuesday with his wife when they noticed the minivan driving through shallow water . They heard the screams , he said , of two children , who were crying and waving for help out of one of the rear windows . Tesseneer threw the car in park and raced over to help . One child was screaming , Tesseneer recalled Wednesday to CNN 's Piers Morgan. `` 'Please help us , our mom is trying to kill us . ' `` The other child he could see was wrestling a woman for the steering wheel . But the woman just kept saying , `` 'We 're OK. We 're OK. We 're OK , ' `` as another man joined Tesseneer trying to get the driver to stop . With the minivan in the cold , heavy surf of the Atlantic , the second man , Stacy Robinson , opened a door and pulled out the two panicked children . There was a good chance if he and Tesseneer had n't been there , the children , ages 10 and 9 , would have drowned inside the van as it pitched in the water , officials said . Another child , a 3-year-old girl , was strapped in a car seat . A lifeguard dived in through a front window and unbuckled the child and handed her to another lifeguard as the vehicle bobbed in water about 3 feet deep . The mother just walked away , Tesseneer said , silent with a strange , almost `` possessed '' look on her face . While there is no evidence that drugs or alcohol were involved , Johnson said one goal of charging her was to make sure she gets help for any possible mental issues . `` This is a tragic event . And our goal is to get her into the system so that we can protect the children and take whatever action we need to help her , too , '' he said . Wilkerson also is being held on three counts of aggravated child abuse , Johnson said . She has not yet requested an attorney , he said .
` ` She actually told them to close their eyes and go to sleep , '' sheriff says . Ebony Smith is charged with three counts of attempted first - degree murder . She 's also charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse . Witnesses say she drove into surf , along with rescuers trying to save her son .