Updated

A motion filed by an attorney representing a South Carolina woman accused of trying to kill her three children by driving them into the Atlantic Ocean in a minivan says she was severely disoriented due to low blood sugar at the time.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports Ebony Wilkerson's blood sugar level was measured at 44 by paramedics called to the beach March 4. Assistant Public Defender Craig Dyer said a normal range would be from 70 to 100.

"We are talking about someone who was close to being comatose," Dyer told the paper in a phone interview.

Records related to Wilkerson's blood sugar are expected to be discussed during a hearing Friday. The judge will also consider whether Wilkerson violated terms of her pretrial release by testing positive for alcohol in an Aug. 6 urinalysis.

The Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, woman is charged with three counts each of attempted murder and child abuse.

"It's a medical issue," he said. "It's not a mental illness in itself. It is mental behavior based on a medical issue."

Prosecutors did not comment on the case to the paper.

The Associated Press contributed to this report