Life in prison?

[Steely]

Mo. teen gets life with possible parole in killing - Yahoo! News

This just hits me really, really hard as she was only 15 AND the doctors had been increasing her Prozac when it happened. A psychiatrist testified that Prozac cannot make a teen violent -- really??? I believe there is a black box warning on this for children! AND she tried to commit suicide on it shortly before (so they increased it).

 

[klmno]

Oh goodness- when my son took prozac it resulted in him setting the fire in the neighborhood that led to the PO who led to the fall of our lives. Prozac is a horrible medication for many kids. At least difficult child's psychiatrist told me to take him off of it immediately and that any safety risk to difficult child was probably not as bad as the risk of leaving him on it. But having people in court understand that- 'ain't happening'.

 

[slsh]

I have to say, I think it's a justified sentence. It was very premeditated, and she showed no remorse whatsoever in her writings in her journal. There's no doubt this young woman had/has some very serious issues, and maybe if she had been on a different medication or gotten better supports this wouldn't have happened. But this wasn't a spur of the moment act, and I don't think there's anything that can excuse her choices here. I think she very clearly knew exactly what she was doing. Just my opinion.

by the way, a new study is now questioning the link between Prozac and adolescent suicide.

 

[flutterby]

I know prozac made my daughter *intensely suicidal* - unlike anything before or since (she had written a note and had a plan). As soon as the prozac was out of her system, the suicidal ideation and severe depression lifted. I don't need a study - or a new study - to tell me what brought this on in my child. She also became the same way on Luvox, but it didn't get as bad because we stopped the medication sooner - even though psychiatrist had her double the dose *after* I called her with my concerns. That was a disaster. She was one step away from psychiatric hospital because of it.

 

[Hound dog]

I have to agree with Sue on this one. This was cold and calculated, planned out, and she even involved her little sister. She obviously is very seriously mentally disturbed. Perhaps a facility for the criminally insane is more appropriate, but she needs to stay locked up.

No clue whether or not prozac could be the cultprit. I doubt there is a way to prove it either way, honestly.

When I took webutrin I had homicidal idealization to the extreme.......I'd only taken it at the most 2 days. But even though it was extreme there still was this part of me that knew that wasn't normal.......and I called the doctor. It was a severe reaction to the medication. Now normally if someone is going to have such a reaction, dosage doesn't much matter.

I don't like prozac. And I've had several psychiatrists tell me to keep family members away from it because my aunt ODed while taking it. So there is the risk of suicide, but I've never heard one for homicide.

 

[Steely]

So if it is pre-mediated that excuses the medication?

 

[InsaneCdn]

Does the US not have the concept of "not guilty by reason of insanity"?

It doesn't matter if the insanity is from an illness like schitzophrenia, or a bad medications reaction, or PTSD, or dementia, or drug abuse, or anything else that can induce insanity. You're insane, or you're not. If you're not insane, you stand trial. If you are insane, you get locked up in psychiatric hospital. where they try to help you, if possible.

Of course, some don't have the right lawyer to plead that cause... not everyone gets what they deserve. But in general, it is a fair concept.

 

[DammitJanet]

We have several different pleas. Not guilty by reason of Insanity or guilty but insane. They are really very hard to win on those pleas though because it isnt just that the person has a diagnoses of a psychiatric condition, but they do not know at the time of the killing that what they did was wrong and understand the consequences of their actions. Even Andrea Yates couldnt win on this plea and I thought she was a slam dunk for it. Even a plea of guilty but insane puts them in a state mental hospital until they are well enough to stand trial for what they have done. If one pleads not guilty by reason of insanity or mental defect and they are found guilty, they will either be put in general population or end up in the prison psychiatric ward and serve their sentences there and wont be tried again.

 

[slsh]

Steely - we probably aren't going to agree on this one. No, I don't think premeditation excuses the medication, but I don't think the medication can possibly excuse the extent of premeditation this young woman engaged in nor the sheer senselessness or brutality of her crime. It's a catch-22. I think it's appropriate that she will not have the opportunity to hurt another innocent for the next 35 years.