No Matter What - We Are Losing

Parenting is hard. When parents have a child with any type of disability, it compounds the challenge, tests the character of a parent, and their ability to keep the needs of their child in the forefront of their decision. Parenting adult children with disabilities is also challenging.

Often, the adult child can live independently from their parents. Which means the parent must trust the child to take care of themselves—for example, to remember to take their medication.

The child in this true crime was 29 when the crime occurred. Medical professionals diagnosed her with autism, schizophrenia, and mental illness.

Ten days prior to the crime, she committed herself to a hospital for ‘paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations.’ The facility discharged her after three days. These types of psychiatric urgent facilities typically assist patients with arranging follow-up care for individuals in distress prior to discharge. That doesn’t appear to be the case here.

Besides her mental illness, she was amid transgender treatment. Her brother said he believed that a doctor prescribing her a powerful hormone to aid in her transition, combined with her psychiatric crisis, was reckless. She admitted she wasn’t in an unstable mindset.

Seven days after the facility discharged her, she coldly killed her parents. She walked into their home and shot her mother as her mother sat watching TV. She then went upstairs and shot her father in his bedroom. After that, she went to her brother’s bedroom where he and his wife were hiding and shot through the door, hoping to kill him as well. She was in a highly agitated state.

She hadn’t injured either her brother or his wife. Her brother called in the emergency. Before law enforcement arrived, the daughter/sister had fled the scene. It took law enforcement hours to locate the shooter. When they did, she admitted to what she’d done and wasn’t remorseful.

After some time in lockup, she agreed to plead guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated assault. They included in her plea agreement that she was mentally ill.

At her sentencing, one of her brothers said,

“We've lost our parents and we've lost a sibling in many ways, as well. So, either way, no matter what, we are losing as a family on this sentence.”

The judge sentenced her to fifty years in prison for the murders and up to five years for the assault.

You might be curious if the daughter was sent to a male or female correctional facility. Initially, a male facility. In the state where this crime occurred, the law allows a transgender inmate to request placement in a living area that doesn’t match birth gender. After they complete a detailed individualized security analysis, the court will make the final ruling.

Source: Washington County Attorney’s Office, People, Law & Crime, News 4+ Utah, KSL.com

All data and information provided is for information and research purposes only and not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Criminal cases may have been appealed or verdicts overturned since I researched the case. All information is provided on an as-is basis.