Coral Springs mother charged with son's murder 11 years later – NBC 6 South Florida

A South Florida mother has been charged with the murder of her own son, more than a decade after the child was found dead in her apartment.

Destene Simmons was arrested Friday on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

Four-year-old Antwan Hope was found dead in the apartment at 9022 NW 28th Drive in Coral Springs on June 10, 2013, after Simmons called 911 several times, according to police.

Hope's father had custody of him at the time of his death, police said. He filed two lawsuits with several allegations, including that Simmons tried to smother Hope with a pillow two years before his death.

A lawsuit alleges that Hope was either murdered by Simmons during an unsupervised visit or died as a result of severe neglect because Simmons was mentally incapable of adequately caring for her son.

According to court records, both of his father's lawsuits were dismissed.

About 11 years after Hope was found dead, Broward sheriff's officials arrested Simmons on Friday.

The 911 calls made by Simmons on June 10, 2013, were released a few weeks after Hope's death.

On the first call on Monday, June 10 at 11:25 a.m., Simmons asks the dispatcher to have someone come to her address. However, when the dispatcher asks her what's going on, she hangs up.

Her call could not be traced to an address because she was using a cell phone, but 16 minutes later she called again.

This time Simmons gave an address, but still refused to say what was going on and hung up again.

Officers said they arrived at the address and called Simmons, but she did not respond. Then, 30 minutes after her first 911 call, Simmons called back one final time. When the operator tried to get more information, she hung up.

When officers entered the apartment, they found the 4-year-old boy dead, police said. Simmons was questioned but later released.

Simmons was arrested after her son's death on another charge: driving without a license.