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Cases of mothers accused of harming their children break one of our deepest assumptions.

The mind would rather have a wrong answer than no answer, so we rush to judge.

A familiar setting and a mother who looked fine let us see ourselves inside it.

Two vivid cases can make a rare tragedy feel like a trend. It isn’t.

Part II in a series. Click here for part I.

In January 2023, three young children died in their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Their mother, Lindsay Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, was charged with murder. Her defense didn't contest that she caused their deaths, arguing instead that postpartum psychosis and medication left her not criminally responsible. After six weeks of trial and 39 hours of deliberation, one holdout juror led to a mistrial on September 4. Whether to go forward with a retrial hasn't yet been decided; the next hearing is tentatively set for November 2.

Then, on October 12, police were called to a room at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. A 3-year-old boy and his father, Charles Harrison, were found dead. The boy's mother, 27-year-old Metallica Harrison, called 911 herself and has been charged with two counts of criminal homicide. Court documents say she told first responders she had worked hard every day to be the best mother and wife she could be.

Little is known about what happened in that room. I want to be careful, and I'd ask readers to be too. But like many people, I saw the headline and felt my stomach drop.

Most of us carry the assumption that a mother is the safest person in........

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