Stephanie Moulton was killed this January by Deshawn Chappell. Stephanie was a worker in a group home for the mentally ill in Massachusetts. Deshawn is a schizophrenic who was decompensating for some time prior to the killing. They were alone in the group home. The mental health system worked as designed - and somebody died. This isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last. Mental health budgets are being slashed all over the country and, in time, more people will pay for the budget cuts with their lives. It's not just money, though. The system as designed is fatally flawed. I wrote about this issue after the murder in 2008 of Dr. Kathryn Faughey, a friend from graduate school (Casualties of a Failed System and No Justice.) Not only have things not changed. They've gotten worse.
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