No verdict in trial of U.S. mother accused of killing her three children

The trial of Lindsay Clancy, accused of killing her three young children, ended without a verdict after jurors failed to agree on whether she was responsible for the deaths or legally incompetent at the time.

The jury deliberated for 38 hours over seven days before the judge declared a mistrial. The decision leaves the central question unresolved: whether Clancy can be convicted of killing Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, in the family’s home in Duxbury in January 2023.

There is no dispute that Clancy strangled the children before cutting herself with a knife and jumping from a second-floor window. She survived the fall but became paralyzed and now uses a wheelchair. The defense argued that she had postpartum psychosis after the birth of her third child and could not be held criminally responsible.

Prosecutors acknowledge that Clancy had mental health problems, but argue that she understood killing her children was wrong and deliberately planned the deaths. She faces life in prison if convicted of murder.

The mistrial allows prosecutors to bring the case again before a new jury, although they have not decided whether to do so. Clancy is being treated at a state hospital and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 29, when her lawyer will ask the judge to dismiss the case. The nearly six-week trial was broadcast on television and renewed debate over postpartum mental health among women in the United States and how the justice system handles cases involving mothers who kill their children.