Mom killed baby in disturbed state, court told
Woman’s ability to understand what happened a key issue, psychiatrist says
A second psychiatrist has testified that Kaela Mehl was suffering from a mental disorder when she killed her 18-month-old daughter, Charlotte, on Sept. 16, 2015.
Mehl has admitted killing Charlotte by feeding her a mixture of yogurt laced with sleeping pills, then smothering her. The Crown must prove, in the first-degree murder trial, Mehl intended to kill the child and that the act was planned and deliberate.
A B.C. Supreme Court jury in Victoria heard Wednesday that Dr. David Yaxley began treating Mehl in February 2016 after she had been hospitalized for five months. He has seen her 60 times.
“I knew she was under incredible stress for some time and sleep deprived,” said Yaxley when asked about Mehl’s mental state the day Carlotte died. “I believe she was in a disordered state of mind and her normal way of forming decisions was severely disturbed. This led to a sudden decision to solve the situation by killing Charlotte and herself.”
Defence lawyer Kirk Karaszkiewicz asked the psychiatrist why he needed to know Mehl’s mental state when Charlotte died.
Mehl’s ability to understand what happened is a key issue, said Yaxley. If she doesn’t, she could be unable to deal with her distress and be at risk for suicide.
Yaxley outlined Mehl’s family history, which became difficult for her around age 12. Like forensic psychiatrist Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe, who testified last week, Yaxley noted a “painful” incident where Mehl’s mother told her she could kill herself and the family would be better off.
Mehl hoped her marriage to Dan Cunningham would be the real thing and when Charlotte was born, felt safe and fully invested in her daughter.
As a custody battle intensified between the couple, Charlotte became everything to her. Mehl was concerned about Cunningham’s drinking and felt her fatherin-law Brent had an inappropriate attachment to Charlotte.
When Cunningham changed the locks on the house, Mehl felt it was her and Charlotte against the world, Yaxley said. She became obsessed with protecting her daughter.
Mehl’s interactions with police did not help. On Sept. 15, Mehl put a tracking device in one of Charlotte’s stuffed toys and discovered her daughter was not where she was supposed to be. Mehl was concerned she might be with her father-in-law.
West Shore RCMP told her they couldn’t help, Yaxley said.
The evening before Charlotte died, Mehl had “very difficult and painful” text message conversations with her mother, Leanna Comis.
“The communication was hurtful and threatening Kaela with eviction from her home,” Yaxley testified. “If evicted, Kaela would lose custody of Charlotte to the Cunninghams.
“Is there a point Ms. Mehl began contemplating suicide?” Karaszkiewicz said.
“What I pieced together was that Kaela was working on a response to the police request that she give her husband’s family a list of foods Charlotte ate. She started to feel the bottom dropping out of her emotional state. ‘If I do this, what next?’ … She started writing a letter to herself, how upset she was with the situation, how she felt about the Cunninghams.
“She felt the strange sensation of hope dying. She felt empty with absolutely no hope and it came at her suddenly. … She felt absolutely overwhelmed, absolutely empty, fearful she would be evicted from her mother’s home.”
The suicidal thoughts began about midnight. Mehl looked up Zopiclone as a lethal agent, Yaxley said.
“Then she gave her daughter a mixture of Zopiclone mixed with yogurt. But it has an incredibly bitter taste and her daughter would not eat it. As a result of that, Kaela determined they were both going to die. She told me she used her hands … and she smothered her with her hands.”
The suicide note Mehl left shows someone angry, frustrated and upset, Yaxley said. “The most important message I receive from it is she’s done, she cannot go on. She doesn’t have the strength to carry on and she is not going to leave Charlotte behind to be hurt.”