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Jed Boal ReportingThe woman charged with murder in the death of her stillborn child faces a judge Monday while the case stirs debate in Utah and across the country.
Whether this woman is mentally ill will emerge in court, and the court will decide if she's competent. If she is mentally ill, critics say it’s too bad the system that failed her now wants to punish her.
Prosecutors say 28-year-old Melissa Ann Rowland murdered her stillborn baby. She rejected the advice of doctors at three hospitals to get a c-section to save the child. Rowland told KSL Radio she has had two other children by c-section and was not told she needed the procedure in this case.
Melissa Rowland "I really don't know what I could have done to save him. I wish I knew now, I wish I knew."
Rowland reportedly told her lawyer she was committed to a mental hospital when she was 12, hospitalized again at least one other time, and diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Vicki Cottrell, NAMI Utah: “Somebody lost track of a very vulnerable and ill individual."
Vicki Cottrell of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill doesn't know Rowland's background, but her story fits a pattern. Cottrell says too many of the mentally ill make headlines in crisis.
Vicki Cottrell, NAMI Utah: “We can’t afford to treat them up front, but we can afford to put them in jail, to charge them with murder, and house them at the prison.”
Doctor Jed Ericksen of Valley Mental Health says early intervention with a disorder is critical, but it doesn't always happen until there's a crisis.
Dr. Jed Ericksen, Valley Mental Health: “The criminal justice system becomes the warehouse for many mentally ill people across the country.”
The District Attorney's office says there's nothing to indicate she did not have the medical resources she needed make competent decisions for herself and the unborn child.
Kent Morgan, District Attorney's Office: “We wanted to make sure this was the right thing to do. We went through many levels of screening before deciding this was the right thing to do."
The District Attorney’s spokesman says they knew the case would be controversial, but didn't know it would make headlines internationally. He says the office is not trying to make a political statement, rather is defending the unborn child.
Here's a closer look at Melissa Rowland's history, based on jail records and information from her attorney.
Rowland was a twin born to a mentally retarded mother. She was placed in foster care almost immediately and adopted before her first birthday.
Her twin brother had serious medical problems and died when he was 7. Rowland was committed to a Pennsylvania mental hospital when she was 12, and diagnosed with "oppositional defiant disorder", a condition defined by hostile and uncooperative behavior.
Rowlands attorney says she was hospitalized in a mental facility at least one other time, and told him she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The defense attorney is waiting for records to confirm that
Before the murder charge, Rowland was in jail for endangerment of the twin girl who was born alive. That charge is based on allegations that Rowland tested positive for alcohol and cocaine, immedately after the birth.
