An 8-month-old boy who was allegedly strangled by his mother and airlifted to a Boston, Massachusetts, hospital has died, authorities say.
On January 24, a man called 911 saying a woman had attempted suicide by jumping out of a window. The woman was identified as Lindsay Clancy, 32, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and the caller was identified as her husband, Patrick.
When police arrived at the home, they found three children “unconscious with obvious signs of trauma,” Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said during a press conference the following day, according to CBS 12.
“It’s a horrific situation,” Cruz said at the time.
He said a preliminary investigation from the medical examiner found that the children had been strangled by their mother. Two of the kids, a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, were taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center but were pronounced dead. An 8-month-old baby was flown to Boston Children’s Hospital, where he died on January 27.
On January 25, Cruz announced that an arrest warrant had been issued for Lindsay Clancy, charging her with two counts of homicide and three counts each of strangulation and assault and battery with a deadly weapon. He added that she was “under police custody.”
On Saturday, Lindsay’s husband Patrick, who is also the father of the three children who were killed, released an emotional statement, his first publicly since the tragedy.
“Any parent knows, it’s impossible to understand how much you will love your kids until you have them. The same goes for understanding the devastation of losing them,” Patrick wrote.
The grieving father also shared his thoughts about his wife, who he said suffered from a “rapidly” worsening mental illness.
“I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have,” he wrote. “The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone – me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients. The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace.”
Cruz assured the public that they were safe and that this was not a random incident.
The children’s aunt, Donna Jesse, expressed her grief to NBC Boston.
“They were just beautiful, beautiful children. Well cared for — they were just beautiful, that’s it. They had a beautiful life,” she said.
The children’s great-grandmother, Rita Musgrove, told the outlet that she had talked to their mother just a week ago and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“It’s a pretty shocking thing, and it is heartbreaking,” she said.
The Duxbury Fire Department released a statement Thursday morning saying their “thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this tragic event, their family members, and all the members of our public safety community who responded.”
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.