Before the unthinkable tragedy that claimed the lives of her three young children, a Massachusetts mother sent chilling messages to her medical provider—revealing a mind in deep crisis and a desperate cry for help.
Lindsay Clancy, then 32, reportedly exchanged a series of haunting texts with nurse practitioner Rebecca Jollotta in early December 2022, just weeks before she allegedly strangled her kids and attempted suicide. The messages were revealed this week during Clancy’s murder trial.
On Dec. 2, Clancy told Jollotta she felt “completely numb” and wrote, “I feel like I’m going to die and I don’t care,” according to court documents. She also voiced fears of being addicted to the anxiety medication Ativan, saying she didn’t feel heard.
Jollotta, who treated Clancy from late November to mid-December, testified that she didn’t believe Clancy was addicted. Instead, she saw the messages as signs of suicidal ideation and told Clancy that intrusive thoughts were “quite common” in postpartum depression.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, had started new medications and struggled with insomnia. On Nov. 30, she wrote, “What I’m really feeling is I cannot go on this way.”
Jollotta’s junior staff handled a call that day because the nurse practitioner was too busy with other patients.
By Dec. 15, Clancy and her husband Patrick called Jollotta about “dark thoughts,” leading to an emergency room visit. Clancy chose an outpatient program over checking into a mental health facility, according to testimony.
A recommended stay at Women and Infants Hospital fell through when they reportedly turned her away over concerns she was overmedicated. Jollotta said she wasn’t affiliated with that hospital.
During a Dec. 6 visit, Jollotta raised the possibility of bipolar disorder due to Clancy’s intense reactions to antidepressants. But she testified she never believed Clancy was in psychosis.
Clancy’s own journal, read to the jury, revealed deep guilt over postpartum struggles—including sleep training her youngest child and stopping breastfeeding.
On Jan. 24, 2023, Clancy allegedly used exercise bands to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 her children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan—before harming herself and jumping from her home. She survived but was partially paralyzed.
As the trial unfolds, one haunting question remains: Could more have been done to prevent this devastating loss?
