Hundreds of supporters gathered outside a US courthouse to show support for Lindsay Clancy, a mother on trial for killing her three young children in 2023. Many of the demonstrators wore pink clothing carrying messages such as “She Needed Help” and “Peace For Lindsay.”
Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of her children, Callan, Dawson and Cora, who were between eight months and five years old. Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, does not dispute that she killed the children but argues that she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from severe mental illness.
Reddington says Clancy experienced postpartum psychosis, a rare and serious condition that can develop after childbirth. He also says she has bipolar disorder and had repeatedly sought medical assistance before the killings, including contacting healthcare providers, taking prescribed medication, calling a suicide hotline and receiving psychiatric treatment.
Prosecutors, however, argue that Clancy planned the killings and deliberately arranged for her husband to leave the home before the incident. They have also questioned the seriousness of her subsequent suicide attempt, in which she jumped from a second-storey window and suffered paralysis from the waist down.
The case has drawn attention to postpartum mental health, with supporters saying it highlights the need for better treatment and support for women experiencing severe mental illness after childbirth. At the rally, around 300 women and several men stood silently for more than an hour outside the courthouse.
During the trial, defence witness and chaplain Sheila Cavanaugh testified about visiting Clancy in hospital after the killings. Cavanaugh said Clancy told her that she was relieved her children were safe and described hearing a voice that allegedly told her that she and her children would not be safe unless she followed its commands.
The trial has sparked wider discussion about postpartum psychosis, which is much rarer and more severe than postpartum depression. Researchers estimate that it affects about one to two women for every 1,000 births.
