# RO: Mom kills kid. Eats brain **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 27, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471 "2009-07-27T19:27:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/61 "2009-07-28T19:08:22Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > This may sound a bit odd, but my stomach turns and my sympathies are for the 5 and 7 year old that were present in the house when this occurred. That poor baby is beyond my help or caring (not that it doesn’t make me sick to think about him), but truly, how in hell did this occur with those little people there? I remember well how curious my kids were at that age–they would just walk into rooms (except the bathroom) etc. > > How does one counsel a child after they witness something like this? ☹ > I really want to vomit after reading that article. Well, it happened in the middle of the night and was confined to one bedroom (presumably the baby’s mother’s room). I’d say there’s hope that they didn’t actually witness anything worse than Auntie sitting on the couch with bloody knife wounds and screaming about having killed her baby. I know that sounds sarcastic, and seeing that is bad enough, but at least it’s not a dismembered, partially consumed newborn. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/62 "2009-07-28T20:05:10Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > An additional horrible aspect to this tragedy (if any were needed) is that, from what I can gather, post-partum psychosis is not permanent. Imagine ‘waking up sane’ to discover you did this. Truly, from my perspective at least death or permanent insanity would be better (if it were me and that was my child). I heard that Andrea Yates went through that. Once the medication kicked in and she started becoming aware, the realization of what she did caused her to slide back into catatonia. A vicious circle. I have no sympathy for women like Susan Smith who kill their kids, but I have very deep sympathy for women like Andrea Yates because they didn’t get the mental health care help they needed. This woman from the OP had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals, and likely stopped taking her medications. What do you do with grown ups who won’t take their meds? It’s a tough question. Few facts have come out, we’ll know more soon. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/63 "2009-07-28T20:33:56Z")
According to [this update](http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/decapitated-babys-mum-had-psychosis-20090729-e0db.html), the mom had been diagnosed as having schizophrenia, postpartum depression _and_ postpartum psychosis - the trifecta. The reliability of this info (some of which comes from relatives) could be in question. The news that she had been in and out of a psych ward, that a hospital called several months ago to check on her, and the fact that the baby was 3 1/2 weeks old makes it rather unlikely that the sole cause of her snapping was post-partum psychosis. Could be that the stresses of pregnancy and delivery exacerbated underlying schizophrenia (and possibly being off drugs or on lesser doses during pregnancy had a role). Maybe she was fixated on Hannibal Lecter. We just don’t know. If (as has been suggested) the title of this thread was less graphic, someone could easily have clicked on it, ignored the warning accompanying the web link and then squawked about how they should have been warned about the, uh, consumption aspects. You can’t please everyone. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/64 "2009-07-28T23:33:17Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > Well, it happened in the middle of the night and was confined to one bedroom (presumably the baby’s mother’s room). I’d say there’s hope that they didn’t actually witness anything worse than Auntie sitting on the couch with bloody knife wounds and screaming about having killed her baby. I know that sounds sarcastic, and seeing that is bad enough, but at least it’s not a dismembered, partially consumed newborn. And these kids remain oblivious of what happened to their baby cousin? I don’t think so. Sure, it’s better that they didn’t see it, but we can’t really say that they didn’t. Even so, the tragedy remains. I doubt I’d get over my aunt holding a bloody knife and screaming she’d killed her baby, especially once you realize that baby is definitely not around anymore… ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/65 "2009-07-28T23:39:27Z")
According to Wikipedia, this is known as ‘savaging’ in animal science. > **[Savaging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savaging)** > > Savaging is a term used in the study of ethology that refers to aggressive behaviour displayed by the mother towards the offspring. Aggressive behaviour includes being rough with, injuring, biting, attacking, crushing and killing (maternal infanticide) of the offspring. While savaging behaviour has been seen in multiple species, it is predominantly demonstrated in domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus). As the definition of savaging is so broad, research on the prevalence of savaging behaviour var... ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/66 "2009-07-29T09:16:27Z")
I blame Francisco Goya. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/67 "2009-07-29T11:54:56Z")
> [@Talon\_Karrde](#): > > I blame Francisco Goya. I blame Chronos. Serious hijack here- we put down dangerously crazed animals. Why not put down someone who is so mentally ill or evil as to do something like this? I especially want to hear why not from anyone who believes in assisted suicide & euthanasia. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/68 "2009-07-29T12:43:10Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > According to Wikipedia, this is known as ‘savaging’ in animal science. > > [Savaging - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savaging) Mmmm…bacon! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/69 "2009-07-29T14:14:31Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I blame Chronos. > > Serious hijack here- we put down dangerously crazed animals. Why not put down someone who is so mentally ill or evil as to do something like this? > > I especially want to hear why not from anyone who believes in assisted suicide & euthanasia. Because there’s a million miles between somebody who presents a possible danger to themselves and others, and somebody who has just eaten her baby’s brain? If you mean “why don’t we put her down now that we already know she’s a baby eater?” that’s a more complex question, but the basic answer is “because her condition is treatable”. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/70 "2009-07-29T16:12:38Z")
If I were a neighbor, I’d make sure the house was empty and then burn it, just so she wouldn’t be able to come back there-----they might just set her free, after all. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/71 "2009-07-30T03:52:13Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > And these kids remain oblivious of what happened to their baby cousin? I don’t think so. Sure, it’s better that they didn’t see it, but we can’t really say that they didn’t. Even so, the tragedy remains. I doubt I’d get over my aunt holding a bloody knife and screaming she’d killed her baby, especially once you realize that baby is definitely not around anymore… This wasn’t directed at you, **supergoose** –just at the appalling circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/72 "2009-07-30T08:59:32Z")
> [@](#): > > I have no sympathy for women like Susan Smith who kill their kids, but I have very deep sympathy for women like Andrea Yates because they didn’t get the mental health care help they needed \*waits for the " But Susan Smith WAS also batshit nuts" crew. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/73 "2009-07-30T09:15:17Z")
Not that Susan Smith didn’t have her problems. She was sexually abused and was pretty messed up. The difference, to my mind, is that Smith knew right from wrong, she did what she did out of insecurity and she had a bit of the sociopath in her, but she KNEW what she was doing was wrong. And she was a fucking bigot on top of being a child killer. I’m sorry about her childhood, but not her choices during her adulthood. Depression sucks, but it does not make you forget the difference between right and wrong. Andrea Yates and the OP woman, that’s DEEP mental illness, where the realization of right and wrong doesn’t even factor into it. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/74 "2009-07-30T11:35:19Z")
Yep. Andrea Yates ( victim of psycho preacher babble ), Susan Smith ( psycho christian babble ), and now Otty Sanchez ( “the devil made me do it” ). If post-partum psychosis really means “small town churches and their damaging factor”, then we’ve got the diagnosis right. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/75 "2009-07-30T17:45:34Z")
Another expression of sympathy for the first responders. I can’t even imagine that it would be possible to shake something like that off, even years after witnessing it. I would have to be on some heavy-duty meds for quite a while after seeing something like that. But then again, I can’t even eat spaghetti and watch Bones at the same time. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company shrinks are putting in some serious overtime on this one. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/76 "2009-07-30T17:56:30Z")
> [@OleOneEye](#): > > At least she’s not unreasonable, i mean, it’s not like she [ate his eyes…](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/jonathan_coulton/re_your_brains.html) 😛 Nice combo of username and link ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/77 "2009-07-30T18:32:15Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > From the article: > > So that’s three in nine years (though the word “several” suggests there may be more). The cases do seem similar, but given the time span and the fact that Texas is, I’m given to understand, a largish state, I wouldn’t be inclined to speculate about any kind of trend. 6.12.07 [Texas baby who survived hanging by mother to live with aunt](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-12-texas-hanging_N.htm) (her three older sisters did not survive) 12.4.08 [East Texas shocked over alleged baby murder](http://www.ketknbc.com/news/east-texas-shocked-over-alleged-baby-murder) 2.3.09 [Texas Mother convicted in “Baby Grace” (Riley Ann Sawyer) murder](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6792286) 4.23.09 [Texas Mother Charged with Cap Murder in Beating Death of Baby Son](http://www.kiiitv.com/news/txstatenews/43540367.html) 7.24.09 [Texas woman kills her 18-month-old, then self](http://www.click2houston.com/news/20170546/detail.html) And these are just stories that came up using the search terms “texas mother murdered her baby -Otty -Yates -Scanchez” I bet you’ll find more if you put in son or daughter or child or children instead of baby. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/78 "2009-07-30T19:17:55Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Did I mention how much I hate seeing this fucking subject line? It stresses me out just looking at it. Do you think it is better to sweep these things under the rug and pretend they don’t happen? ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/79 "2009-07-30T19:19:15Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > This wasn’t directed at you, **supergoose** –just at the appalling circumstance. I know. 🙂 Thank you for saying so, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471/80 "2009-07-30T21:36:45Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Do you think it is better to sweep these things under the rug and pretend they don’t happen? I think we’re all well aware of the fact that horrible things happen to children, and sometimes parents hurt their kids in some really vile ways. What I don’t need is a graphic description of baby cannibalism rolling around in my head right now. However, like mswas, the thread title was enough to bother me for days until I finally read it. That’s my own fault, of course, but still, I don’t think that not knowing about this case would have made me naive or in denial or anything. It would simply have been one less nightmare to have. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-mom-kills-kid-eats-brain/504471.md?page=5)