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Sanford mom accused of killing daughter writes letter to Channel 9

SANFORD, Fla. — The Sanford mother accused of killing her young daughter and stuffing her body in a suitcase wrote a letter to Channel 9 saying she's not a killer.

According to police, Rachel Fryer killed her 2-year-old daughter, Tariji Gordon, in what investigators say was a homicide.

"I am not a murderer and I am not an abusive mother," Fryer wrote in the letter.

But the state's evidence paints a darker picture of the mother who has a long history with the Department of Children and Families.

Investigators said Fryer was tied to cigarette burns and bite marks found on the toddler. But in the letter to reporter Tim Barber, Fryer places blame on the young victim.

"I had a daughter that was not adjusting to reunification and acting out and being rebilious," she wrote.

Fryer's defense team said Fryer is frustrated with the court system.

"It is kind of disheartening to read that because it is clearly not accepting any responsibility, but she is reaching out, she just very flustered," said Jeffrey Dowdy, with the Seminole County Public Defender's Office.

In the letter Fryer also blamed DCF and its contractor, Community Based Care.

"I was turned down every time," she wrote. "I tried my best to be a good mother. I worked hard to be in my children's lives, despite nobody's effort to help me and my children."

Fryer remains in the Seminole County Jail with no bond.