News

Woman charged with attempted murder

Breceda

A Brewton woman who formerly lived in Atmore remained in the Escambia County Detention Center this week after her March 7 arrest on charges she tried to kill her elderly mother-in-law.

Brewton police reportedly took 67-year-old Sherry Diane Jackson Rowell Breceda into custody at West Gate Village, a Brewton nursing home at which the alleged victim resides and at which the crime was reportedly committed.

Breceda lived for several years in Atmore when she was married to Albert Alex “Al” Breceda, who worked as the maintenance director at Point Escambia Apartments. Al Breceda died in 2015. Diane Breceda returned to Point Escambia in 2016 and was a resident there for several months before a medical condition led to her relocation.

According to published reports, West Gate Village staff contacted city police after they noticed “suspicious activity” between Diane Breceda and the nursing home resident over whom Breceda had power of attorney.

Breceda reportedly dissolved an anti-depressant pill, for which the elderly woman did not have a prescription, in a glass of water that she tried to get the woman to drink. Authorities believe the incident was not the first time Breceda had given the woman altered food or drink.

Other published reports indicate that Breceda “actively resisted” arrest when approached by police and that police also executed a search warrant at her home.

No information was released as to whether any evidence was recovered at the residence.

According to an employee of the county jail’s booking and release division, the 67-year-old suspect is being held under a $75,000 bond on one count of attempted murder.

A member of the intended murder victim’s family lives in Atmore, but calls to his home on Monday and Tuesday resulted in a recorded message that “the party you have dialed is not accepting calls at this time.”