What I found interesting were some of her reasons:
- She felt guilty that she had caused Katie's autism because she had gotten her vaccinated
- Katie did not interact with her very well
- She felt like a failure
- She hoped that Katie would be "fixed" and "complete" in heaven
So, how severe was Katie? What support did she have?
Well, for starters Karen was not poor by any stretch. Katie had a team of therapists who worked with her 40 hours a week. (You known my opinions on that, so I'll spare you) She went to a special school. She had family members who were more than willing to help...and they did. She had support a-plenty, she was not going broke, and according to Paul McCarron, Katie's father and Karen's husband, she really wasn't too severe.
From this article, http://www.pekintimes.com/articles/2008/01/10/news/news4.txt -
Paul said that Karen had been seeing a psychiatrist but had stopped taking her antidepressants a month before the murder. He also said that Karen had suggested that they put her up for adoption, to which he always replied "No way in hell. She's my daughter."
"Paul McCarron also said Katie's autism was not severe; she wasn't prone to kicking, screaming, biting or behavior sometimes associated with more severe autism cases." "
"Katie was always a well-behaved little girl," he said, adding that she was developmentally behind for her age but learned the alphabet, knew shapes and colors, and recognized various animals."
"The family had a large support group that consisted of both sets of Katie's grandparents and two hired in-home helpers who were scheduled to be with the child nearly 40 hours a week, Paul McCarron testified."
Wow. She wasn't badly behaved, had in-home support, she knew the alphabet, colours and such at the age of three - I know a lot of non-autistic, supposedly normal children who cannot do that at the age of three! She was just a bit "slower" than her peers.
Apparently, this was worth killing for!
I was like that at the age of three and I turned out ok. I'm married, live in a nice house (that we own), have a job in the IT industry, am attending university and doing all of those things that autistic people are not supposed to be able to do according to popular theory.
Now, I've read a lot of cases where parents have killed their autistic children. Why am I bothered by this one??
What bothers me so much about this case is that Katie seemed to be a lot like I was at that age. Perhaps she could be doing just as well as me, if not better, when she's 32.
The only difference was that I did not have the MMR vaccine. I was still autistic. Karen, the MMR vaccine did not make your daughter autistic. I never got it, yet I am autistic. Your daughter was autistic anyway.
You did not cause autism! A vaccine did not cause autism!
I might be dead right now too if my mother had felt this way against me and wanted to kill me.
Fortunately, my mother recognized that there are worse things out there. She also came from the UK and knew a lot more about autism. She knew that I would likely not be as "responsive" to her as my brother was. It must have hurt her to see how well I got along with my dad - I hugged him, talked to him and related to him better. My brother was more close to my mother than I was. Perhaps his love for her helped. Plus she had the support of family, just like Karen McCarron did.
I'll also add that my mother wasn't too keen on having a disabled child of any sort and confessed to me that she didn't think she could handle it. (Actually, she originally wasn't too keen on having kids at all, but she did well)
She did handle it, though. She handled it very well! Look how I turned out!
At Christmas time, my mother said something to me that I'll never forget (and I still get misty-eyed about!): "I'm so proud of you."
I asked if she was proud of the dinner I had made for the family?
"No...for everything you've done and for everything you do."
Wow. I didn't know what to do or say. I said "Aw, thanks. I owe it to you and dad, really." My mother, knowing I get a little awkward at these moments, helped me get dessert ready and we completed a nice family dinner.
Perhaps Karen McCarron might have been having a family dinner like this 29 years from now and saying the exact same words to Katie, but she cannot. She killed that chance on May 13, 2006.
Rest in peace, Katie. May you be accepted, loved and be happy wherever you are now.
The latest news story and link can be found below.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gzi4G83F97PxaZn6ctuLeZ9l5tkwD8U453JG0
Mom Confesses She Killed Autistic Child
PEKIN, Ill. (AP) — A woman accused of killing her autistic daughter testified Friday that she attempted to suffocate the 3-year-old with a pillow three days before she succeeded with a plastic garbage bag.
Karen McCarron said she couldn't go through with it using the pillow. When prosecutor Kevin Johnson asked her how long she held the bag over the toddler's head soon after, she replied about two minutes — until little Katie stopped struggling.
In a videotaped confession played in court Thursday, McCarron said she began having thoughts of hurting her daughter a year before the May 2006 slaying but put them out of her mind. On the day of the killing, though, the thoughts were stronger than ever.
"They were so intense," McCarron said.
McCarron, 39, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder, obstructing justice and concealment of a homicidal death. She was found mentally fit to stand trial, but a medical expert hired by her attorneys has said she was insane at the time of the killing.
The trial resumes Monday.
McCarron, a former pathologist, testified she felt responsible for Katie's autism because she allowed the child to get vaccinated. Some people believe autism is caused by a mercury-containing preservative once used in childhood vaccines.
It "brought me a great deal of guilt," she said.
Using a plastic bag and the prosecutor's arm, McCarron demonstrated for jurors in Tazewell County Circuit Court how she placed a bag over her daughter's head and pushed her to her knees, the (Peoria) Journal Star and the Pekin Daily Times reported.
"Were you able to see her face as she fell to the floor?" Johnson asked.
"Yes. I could see her face through the trash bag," McCarron answered.
McCarron said she listened for a heartbeat after Katie stopped struggling.
"I just put my ear to her chest," McCarron said. "I heard one, then I heard nothing."
The child had scratch marks on her head and bite marks were found inside her mouth and on the bag as she apparently tried to free herself, according to other testimony.
The taped confession was made while McCarron was hospitalized after attempting suicide, investigators said. Wearing a hospital gown, she appears sitting on a bed next to her husband, Paul McCarron.
Karen McCarron said she killed her child hoping to "fix her" and give her peace in heaven.
"Maybe I could fix her this way, and in heaven she would be complete," she said on the tape.
Karen McCarron said on the videotape that she took her daughter's body back to her own house and put her in bed. She then went to the store, bought ice cream and returned to her mother's home to get the garbage bag because, "if things get bad, their house would be searched."
Interviewers asked McCarron if she knew what she did was criminally wrong.
"I have enough education to know that," she answered.
McCarron told police she felt like a failure because of the child's autism and was sad and hurt because the child couldn't interact with her very well.
"I loved Katie very much, but I hated the autism so, so much," McCarron said. "I hated what it was doing to her. ... I just wanted autism out of my life."
