Case Resumes Against Rochester Woman Who Tried Killing Her Kids

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester woman charged with trying to kill her kids has been found competent two months after she was ordered to undergo treatment for mental illness.

The ruling was made Wednesday during a court hearing for 33-year-old Farhiyo Abdullahi.

An Olmsted County judge in December approved her involuntary commitment after a psychological evaluation determined she was mentally ill and suffering from Schizophrenia.

The examiner found Abdullahi has an extensive history of mental illness and discontinued using her medication last August. That was less than two months before she put her 5 young kids in her car and filled it with exhaust fumes until some became sick. The examiner’s report says Abdullahi indicated she had frequent thoughts of suicide and talked of “hearing voices telling her to kill herself.” She told the examiner she hid her mental illness from social workers “because she did not want to lose her children.”

She has been charged with five counts of 1st degree attempted murder. She has been ordered to make her first court appearance on March 18th.

News update: A coronavirus incident at the Twin Cities airport.