Comments on: A Terrible Story: Weigh In

By: Sister Wolf

Sister Wolf — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 01:28:05 +0000

Rebekah – Oh my god — I can’t watch much of that video but this is terrible. You’re right, there is something very wrong with this mother. No excuse for this. Jesus. Poor everybody! Thank you for giving me a broader picture of this family tragedy.

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 21:46:15 +0000

There does seem to be something weird about the woman. Like brenda said, the video kelli’s kittens is rather disturbing, six plus minutes of the family pretending to do away with the kittens in various ways. The mother’s behavior is disturbing, in my opinion. There are three children, I assume the siblings of her autistic daughter. The son seems willing enough to play along with the game but the younger daughter has a look of confusion. It’s these two kids I feel most sorry for. I suppose you can’t judge a family by the videos they post on YouTube but I really was bothered by this on. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v0_MNXAAxc You can see all the family’s videos from this page: http://www.youtube.com/user/kellistapes/videos

By: brenda

brenda — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 22:19:39 +0000

I’m really surprised by all of these posts. This woman admitted to giving her daughter an overdose of her medication, promising her s’mores to get her into the van, then setting a fire and keeping the fire going as her daughter passed out from the carbon monoxide poisoning. I highly doubt she intended to kill herself, if so then why was she talkative to the emergency room nurses and the daughter took many days to recover. Look at it from this angle –> what if the mother was abusive to the daughter and that is why and how the daughter suddenly began exhibiting aggressive tendencies. What if the mother planned on killing the daughter for many months? What if the mother never intended to die herself, only to play the martyr when she was ‘rescued’ in time. Remember, she left a voicemail for her husband and the police were able to find the van in time. Overwhelmed? Bull. The daughter had been away for 8 plus months in a residential care facility. Then a couple of days after returning home her mother gives her an overdose and puts her plan in motion. Didn’t have help? Bull. Tax dollars and the insurance companies covered the cost of care. The daughter had caregivers, school personnel, hospitals, doctor, and a community which held fundraisers and donated tens of thousands of dollars to the family for care which was covered by welfare and insurance companies. Where did that money go? Did you know the mother traveled/took vacations? Have you seen the video titled “kelli’s kittens” where the autistic daughter is instructed to place a kitten in the oven? Did you read the mother’s fb post when she wrote she was feeling “murdery” because of spending too much time with her family? Have you listened to the radio show where the mother called in and was told by the professionals that she needed help and to stop trying to view her daughter as the problem? I think she was abusive to her daughter. Look at the video where the mother is screaming and hysterical. What lead up to that point? What happened when she turned off the camera? Why is the video rolling during the episode? Did you know she said she was writing about her daughter so she’d have ‘witnesses’? It sounds to me like she was planning on murdering her daughter and it sure seems like she was abusive to her all along. For the people saying how much she loved her daughter –> bull. Mothers who love their daughters don’t attempt to murder them. I think it’s wrong on every level for people to be trying to make excuses for this woman. She tried to kill her daughter! She was receiving all sorts of help. Why is it her daughter was able to be in a regular classroom through the fifth or sixth grade then suddenly she started acting out? If my theory is right, she was trying to communicate what was happening to her behind closed doors. In my opinion, this woman is mean, an abuser, and she deserves to be prosecuted and sentenced to the fullest extent of the law.

By: Cricket9

Cricket9 — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 03:51:25 +0000

@Elijah Hartgrove: “but that doesn’t mean that help isn’t out there” – no, often it does mean exactly that, no help out there. My friend was called by the respite facility – which, indeed, was supposed to provide a respite to the parents for a weekend every now and then – several times in the middle of the night to take her daughter back home, because she had a crying/screaming fit and the respite personnel was unable to calm her. Eventually they refused to take her in at all. As for help from extended family, friends, etc. – it’s not exactly your regular babysitting, not everyone can and should be in charge without training. We like to think that there is a solution – I did too, now I’m not so sure.

By: manyquestions

manyquestions — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 17:54:24 +0000

“where the fuck was the father?”

Issy’s father has been her primary care-taker. Kelli lived in an apartment away from the family to avoid being beaten by Issy.

By: Madelyn

Madelyn — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 00:44:56 +0000

How sad. My heart breaks for this poor woman. This whole thing reminds me too much of stories I’ve heard about women suffering from postpartum depression, how they are consumed with guilt over what the percieve to be ‘failing their children as a mother’. I’m sure these feelings were heavy on her heart, why else would she have chosen to die alongside her baby girl?

As much as I hate to say it, she was right, she has failed her child. Clearly Issy needs more attention and an approach her mother is not mentally able to provide, and the mother needs time to recover, away from her daughter, preferably in prison. She did commit a crime, and it isn’t safe for Kelli or Issy to let her back into the family home.
After reading her blog and seeing some of her YouTube videos, I really, truly think she has been depressed and traumatised for a very long time, and I don’t think this was the first time she ever considered suicide/murder. Which really makes me wonder, where the fuck was the father? Where were all the other members of the family, or her friends, or her doctors, or all the other adults in her life who, as a part of society are charged with safeguarding the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community?
I forgive her, and my heart goes out to her and her family.

By: ali

ali — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 17:53:43 +0000

*the battered wife syndrome point is a fascinating one.

Maybe the daughter & husband are the ultimate judges.

Do *we* forgive or damn Kelli because she has trespassed on our collective duty to protect the children that populate our national community?

Personally, I oscillate between two points:

Wondering why Kelli did not, as jcf mentions, exhibit more patience and perseverance for the child she loved (?), and,
having empathy for a hopeless, miserable, depressed, distraught (etc) woman/mother who is going to jail for life.

But I am not very close to this situation and I haven’t dealt with anything like it before in my life.

By: Winter Bird

Winter Bird — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 17:22:22 +0000

Once something is put in the hands of our politically motivated judicial system, it’s fucked. All they care about are whore’s, war’s and linning their own pockets. I do believe in God and will pray for a miracle. Kelli deserves one and stranger things have happened.

By: D.R.

D.R. — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 14:13:52 +0000

SW, oftentimes a batterer will kill his wife, and then himself. Seldom does a battered wife who kills her husband then kill herself. Survival instinct, I think.
Kelli isn’t mentally ill, but her case is more of a mental health issue than a criminal case, although what she did was wrong. I think she wanted to die and it’s so sad that she couldn’t see that she might not always feel the same way as she did the moment she made that horrible decision. She was physically and mentally exhausted and terrified for her child. Perhaps the DA will get his/her wish and send her to prison for life…and then maybe he/she will take care of Issy.

By: manyquestions

manyquestions — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 11:29:24 +0000

“Last week, Issy came home from 20 days at a treatment center whose complete program was too costly for her family to afford. They were hopeful about a new behavioral plan for Issy. But it didn’t work out.”

Not entirely correct; Issy, in fact, completed 6+ months of treatment in a residential facility. The cost of the program ($765/day) was covered by the parent’s health insurance and various state agencies.