Friday, March 26, 1999
Therapists OK trash-can mom for trial
BY SHEILA McLAUGHLIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — When Deborah Mackey discovered last May she was going to have a baby, she feared telling her boyfriend.
Confused and afraid, the unmarried Liberty Township woman did not think she could be a good mother.
So she decided to keep the pregnancy a secret. Her plan: Deliver the baby alone at home, then find a good family to adopt it.
Seven months later, Ms. Mackey would diverge drastically from her plan.
Court documents made public Thursday indicate that after going into labor prematurely at a Franklin factory on Dec. 14, Ms. Mackey wiped blood from the restroom floor, wrapped the newborn girl in a rag and placed her in a trash can.
She heard a small cry as she left the room — knowing the infant was alive. “It was cold and calculated,” a remorseful Ms. Mackey told a court-appointed psychologist last month.
But she felt she couldn't just walk out of the restroom with a baby in her arms. Nobody knew she was pregnant.
Ms. Mackey's story, detailed in reports by two therapists who have examined her since February, were made public Thursday after a judge ruled the 39-year-old woman was competent to stand trial April 19.
Charged with attempted murder, attempted involuntary manslaughter and child endangering, Ms. Mackey has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
The infant, Holly Ann, is in the custody of her father, Dan Richardson. Holly Ann suffers from a terminal birth defect that is unrelated to her birth or abandonment.
Judge P. Daniel Fedders of Warren County Common Pleas Court based Thursday's ruling on reports by two of three therapists, who concluded that Ms. Mackey met the legal definition of competency: She understood the charges against her and could participate effectively in her defense.
Another psychologist, Kenneth Manges of Cincinnati, disagreed. He examined Ms. Mackey at the defense lawyer's request.
According to Mr. Manges' report, Ms. Mackey suffers from a combination of mental disorders that would prevent her from effectively assisting her lawyer at trial. Ms. Mackey suffers from an untreated severe and lingering depression that prohibits her from completely understanding her actions, Mr. Manges wrote.
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