Hundreds gather to support Lindsay Clancy at her trial for killing her 3 children

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Hundreds of people gathered Thursday to show their support for Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of murdering her three children.

Clancy’s lawyer does not dispute that she killed the children, but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she was mentally ill.

Several supporters gathered outside Tewksbury State Hospital, where Clancy is being held, before she was taken to Plymouth Superior Court. Another group of supporters gathered outside the courthouse. Many wore pink clothing emblazoned with phrases such as “Believe,” “She Needed Help” and “Peace For Lindsay,”

“She’s so beat up, and so sad, so this will really help her out, I think,” defense attorney Kevin Reddington said as he entered the courthouse.

Some supporters said they drove from other states to show their support for Lindsay Clancy.

“We drove six and a half hours here,” supporter Chelsea Wilkes said. “Very passionate about postpartum mental illness and (we are) here to be here for Lindsay.”

“This is a well-documented case of Lindsay seeking help, cries for help and then to turn it into this I honestly think it’s madness,” supporter Hannah Holbrook said.

“It is the most tragic thing I’ve ever seen, but this has brought to light so much,” another supporter said.

“I think that it’s the mental health system, I hate to use the word healthcare, because unfortunately in this case, as we can see it wasn’t healthcare, and I think it shines a light on this issue,” Reddington said.

Inside court, only one witness was called to the stand Thursday — Sheila Cavanaugh, a chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, testified about her visits with Lindsay Clancy on the days the children were killed in 2023.

“She said to me, as I held her hand to comfort her, ‘I am so glad my children are safe,'” Cavanaugh said. “I replied theologically to Lindsay, and I said, ‘Lindsay, your children are safe. They are safe in Heaven with God.'”

The livestreamed trial has sparked massive discussions online and has brought attention to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness Reddington says she had that is linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. Reddington said she also has bipolar disorder. After strangling her children, Clancy jumped from a second-story window and remains paralyzed from the waist down.

Reddington says Clancy repeatedly sought help: She turned to multiple outpatient providers, tried various drugs they prescribed, called a suicide hotline, went to an emergency room, and even checked herself into a psychiatric hospital.

Prosecutors say the former labor and delivery nurse planned the Jan. 24, 2023, killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to pick up medicine for one of their children and dinner for the family. They have also questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt, and witnesses have testified that Clancy wouldn’t always take prescribed medications.

The Associated Press’s Michael Casey contributed to this report.