Florida AG seeks impeachment of Miami-Dade judge after insanity ruling

The case has its roots in West Little River, where the killing and stabbings happened on Aug. 23, 2021, at the Bland family home on the 3000 block of Northwest 99th Street. Bland lived there with her husband, Evan Bland, and their six children. She told family members that “Jesus Christ is coming and COVID is going to kill us all” and wanted everyone baptized in a bathtub before the violence. When deputies arrived, Evan Bland was outside with stab wounds to his head and neck, Emi was found face down in the bathtub and later pronounced dead at the hospital, and another child suffered a stab wound during the struggle.

De la O accepted the defense’s argument that Bland suffered a COVID-related psychotic break that left her unable to understand the nature of her actions. Bland had been jailed for about four years before being released to house arrest with GPS monitoring roughly a year before the verdict, and the judge later said he wanted more psychiatric testimony before deciding whether to keep her on that status. After the ruling, Bland told reporters, “God is good. This doesn’t bring back my daughter,” and later said in a television interview that she accepted responsibility in a moral sense while still standing by the psychosis defense.

Uthmeier posted on X on June 25, 2026, that his office would work with lawmakers on impeachment, arguing the ruling raised public-safety concerns because Bland could return to the public. The Florida Constitution allows circuit judges to be impeached for misdemeanor in office, but the House must approve impeachment by a two-thirds vote and the Senate must convict by a two-thirds vote. The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission is the usual channel for judging misconduct.