Inclusion Daily Express -- McCarron 'Fit' To Stand Trial For Daughter's Murder

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McCarron 'Fit' To Stand Trial For Daughter's Murder
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
November 16, 2006

PEKIN, ILLINOIS--Dr. Karen McCarron is "mentally fit" to stand trial for charges related to the death of her three-year-old daughter, Katie, a mental health expert has told a Tazewell County court.

According to the Associated Press, McCarron's defense team and the prosecutors agreed that she understands the charges against her and can assist in her own defense.

One attorney said in September that even if McCarron is deemed fit to stand trial, there is a "high probability" that an insanity defense would be pursued.

Police charged McCarron, 37, with murder after she admitted that on May 13 she took her daughter, who had autism, to the home of the girl's grandmother, where she held a plastic trash bag over her head until she stopped breathing.

A grand jury later indicted her on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of obstructing justice, and one count of concealing a homicidal death because she allegedly took her daughter's dead body from the scene of the crime to her own house, and placed it in bed to make it look as if the girl was napping. McCarron also confessed to going back to retrieve the plastic bag and discarding it in a gas station garbage can.

Days later, McCarron said she was overwhelmed by her daughter's disability and wanted to "end her pain and her daughter's pain". After her daughter was dead, McCarron, a pathologist, said she tried committing suicide by overdosing on Tylenol.

McCarron has pleaded not guilty to the crimes. She could face up to 100 years in prison if convicted of the murder charges. The additional charges could add more prison time.

Related:
"Karen McCarron: Doctor Says She Killed Daughter To 'End Their Pain'" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/il/mccarron.htm

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