Lindsay Clancy trial draws attention to postpartum mental health

Plymouth, Mass. (AP) — Jurors are set to resume deliberations on Friday in the Lindsay Clancy trial, aiming to determine her responsibility for the deaths of her three children in 2023. Clancy admits to strangling her children, but her defense argues that she acted due to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that can occur after childbirth.

The killings followed a month-long period of Clancy seeking treatment for her deteriorating mental health, including a stay in a psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors argue that Clancy knowingly killed her children due to depression and a desire to end her life, intentionally taking her children with her before her own suicide. The jury deliberated for a few hours on Thursday without reaching a verdict.

They could find Clancy guilty of murder, the lesser charge of manslaughter, or acquit her if they determine she was not in control of herself due to her mental illness. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility and did not testify during the trial. Jurors heard from medical professionals who treated her, as well as friends and relatives she confided in about her mental health issues.

Medical experts from both the prosecution and defense disagreed on her mental state at the time of the killings, which occurred less than three weeks after Clancy was discharged from the psychiatric hospital where she survived after cutting herself and jumping from a second-floor window.