Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney has disclosed the heartbreaking words his client repeats in the aftermath of her deadlocked murder trial.
Kevin Reddington, 75, said on Wednesday that the former labor and delivery nurse is “constantly” uttering the same devastating plea: “I want my babies. I want my babies.” The veteran attorney shared the detail during a sit-down interview with reporter Laura Jarrett, fielding questions about how Clancy has processed the collapse of the case against her.
Reddington emphasized that Clancy, whose first name was not provided in the coverage, still speaks about her three children “all the time.” The youngsters she is accused of killing were Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan. Prosecutors allege Clancy fatally strangled each of them with exercise bands inside the family’s home in January 2023, then attempted to take her own life.
The triple murder trial ended Friday when the jury deadlocked with an 11-1 split, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. The defense had argued throughout the proceedings that Clancy was in the throes of postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings, a severe mental health condition that can involve delusions, hallucinations and a complete break from reality.
The hung jury outcome came after what had become one of the most closely watched criminal cases in Massachusetts in recent years, drawing intense public interest and polarized reactions to the question of whether a mother’s mental state could explain such an unthinkable act. The 11-1 division suggested that a substantial majority of jurors found some merit in the defense’s psychiatric argument, though one holdout prevented a verdict.
Reddington’s decision to sit for a national television interview just days after the mistrial offered a rare window into his client’s current mental state, which he portrayed as consumed by grief and a fixation on the children she lost. The attorney did not indicate whether Clancy expresses remorse, guilt, or simply longing when she speaks of Cora, Dawson and Callan, leaving the exact emotional texture of her statements unclear.
The case has resonated far beyond the courtroom, touching raw nerves around maternal mental illness, the stigma of postpartum disorders, and the boundaries of criminal responsibility. Clancy’s background as a labor and delivery nurse added a layer of tragedy to the proceedings, given her professional role had been guiding other women through the very transition to motherhood that her defense claimed had undone her own psychological stability.
The January 2023 killings shocked the Duxbury, Massachusetts community where the family lived. After strangling her three children with exercise bands, Clancy jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt, according to prosecutors. She survived but sustained serious injuries that delayed her arrest and arraignment.
The prosecution’s theory held that Clancy’s actions were deliberate and premeditated, pointing to evidence that she had researched methods of killing and had secured the exercise bands in advance. The defense countered that her behavior was the product of a severe psychiatric episode that rendered her incapable of forming criminal intent, with expert testimony detailing the abrupt onset of psychotic symptoms following Callan’s birth.
Postpartum psychosis, while rare, affects approximately one to two of every 1,000 new mothers and typically emerges within the first two weeks after delivery. Symptoms can include confusion, paranoia, disorientation and command hallucinations, with infanticide representing the most catastrophic though statistically uncommon outcome.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s office has not publicly announced whether it intends to retry Clancy on the three murder charges. The cost and complexity of a second trial, combined with the lopsided jury split favoring acquittal or further reduced charges, will likely factor into that calculus. Reddington indicated he would vigorously oppose any renewed prosecution.
Clancy remains in custody pending a status conference where prosecutors must declare their intentions. That hearing has not yet been scheduled.