GUILTY GA - Martin Romero, 33, & four children stabbed to death, Loganville, 6 July 2017

[cvaldez1975]

they are manufactured exclusively for jails, prisons and mental institutions. there is also a "chair" for the inmate or patient who is self harming. (banging head etc)

Where the heck does one even find a suicide vest?

 

[Indy Anna]

She's missing some hair. Medical condition? I'm going to guess she is severely mentally disturbed. Psychotic break? That poor, poor child.


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A terrible thought came to me. Perhaps her victims grasped her hair and pulled it out as they tried fighting her off?

 

[LietKynes]

My .02 is that this wasn't about her dad passing away.
She is unhinged.
But that doesn't mean she shouldn't be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

 

[kirkassoc]

Sounds like the beginnings of a murder/suicide. The only drawback for her was that she couldn't murder the person she loved most (herself). JMHO, MOO, IMO

 

[caribou_birdie]

My .02 is that this wasn't about her dad passing away.
She is unhinged.
But that doesn't mean she shouldn't be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

I am in agreement here. Possibly the death was a trigger, but she went nuts and sadly no one noticed quick enough.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

D M photo:

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Mother's that kill their children are the most alien creatures to me. I would tear apart anything, anyone that tried to harm a hair on their heads. Even now at ages 21 and 17 that instinct has not grown one bit less intense in me. It gets bigger. I will never, ever understand. Only that it must be one giant hell of a mental rip.

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I absolutely agree 100%. Good Lord - how could she do this?

 

[Jennifer17]

I absolutely agree 100%. Good Lord - how could she do this?

Mental illness.

 

[bluesneakers]

Mental illness.

Yes.

From NIMH:
Filicide-suicide: common factors in parents who kill their children and themselves.

Parental motives for filicide-suicide included altruistic and acutely psychotic motives.
..
Records indicated that parents frequently showed evidence of depression or psychosis and had prior mental health care. The data support the hypothesis that traditional risk factors for violence appear different from commonly occurring factors in filicide-suicide.

Also NIMH:
Filicide: Mental Illness in Those Who Kill Their Children

Mothers were more likely than fathers to have a history of mental disorder (66% v 27%) and symptoms at the time of the offence (53% v 23%), most often affective disorder. 17% of mothers had schizophrenia or other delusional disorders.

Overall 8% had schizophrenia. 37% were mentally ill at the time of the offence. 20% had previously been in contact with mental health services, 12% within a year of the offence.
...
In the majority of cases, mental illness was not a feature of filicide. However, young mothers and parents with severe mental illness, especially affective and personality disorder who are providing care for children, require careful monitoring by mental health and other support services. Identifying risk factors for filicide requires further research.

Mental Illness Prevalent in Parents Who Kill Their Children

The most common diagnoses were mood disorders and personality disorder, not psychosis, the researchers note.

This is in contrast to popular perceptions and that of some professionals that parents with more severe psychotic illnesses, like schizophrenia, are more likely to kill their children, the researchers said.

“Risk-assessment of mothers in joint psychiatric care reported (the) greatest risk of actual harm to a child was presented by mothers with mood disorders like depression, rather than schizophrenia,” said Kathryn Abel, Ph.D., who led the study

Sometimes mothers who are suicidal kill their children first, in a twisted attempt of altruism so their children won't grow up without a mother, but based on her mugshot (and I know that's not really nearly enough to go on) I doubt that's what happened here.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

D M photo:

View attachment 119524

Forgive me but they all sorta look like they have some hair issues in the same place. Odd that IMO.

trichotillomania? munchausen by proxy? What was going on here? And how would knowing help in the next case?...

ugh, just so sad for everyone, even the mom.

 

[Goldbullet]

I do not believe this atrocity was caused by Munchausen by Proxy, but in my opinion this could be a comorbid case of Major Depressive Disorder (certainly worsened by her father's death) and Dependant Personality Disorder, as i have seen it affect mothers many times before, with unfortunate results.

 

[Elley Mae]

Martinez was charged Thursday with five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault. She was being held at the Gwinnett County jail.

She has also been put on an immigration hold.

The stabbings reportedly occurred between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Thursday, according to arrest warrants by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

http://www.ajc.com/father-children-stabbed-death-inside-gwinnett-home/

 

[Indy Anna]

Forgive me but they all sorta look like they have some hair issues in the same place. Odd that IMO.

trichotillomania? munchausen by proxy? What was going on here? And how would knowing help in the next case?...

ugh, just so sad for everyone, even the mom.

You're right. It's not just in the mother's mugshot where she's missing hair in front. For the little girls, it looks like someone cut their hair and cut the front super short. Could be the mother did that, but I've known of kids who decide to give themselves a haircut and their hair looks like that.

The mother might have alopecia. I thought baldness with alopecia only occurred on the back of the scalp, but according to the website there are different forms and extent of hair loss in alopecia areata. https://www.naaf.org/alopecia-areata

Really may not be related, but the mother could've had depression related to alopecia and then the loss of her dad caused her to go deeper into depression. FWIW

 

[TTF14]

Such a sad story . My prayers are with the surviving child and the first responders.

 

[Pamela_Brewer]

My .02 is that this wasn't about her dad passing away.
She is unhinged.
But that doesn't mean she shouldn't be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

I thought maybe she was in an abusive situation and her dad was her "protector", now that he's gone, she "broke".
Hopefully more details will be released.
MOO

MOO

 

[LayzeeDayzee]

I absolutely agree 100%. Good Lord - how could she do this?

Maybe she was under the influence of drugs? bath salts?....causing her to go into some kind of psychotic rage etc?

 

[Bently]

"

The father was Martin Romero, age 33.

The four siblings killed were 2-year-old Axel, 4-year-old Dillan, 7-year-old Dacota and 10-year-old Isabela Martinez

Nine-year-old Diana Romero was also stabbed and flown by helicopter to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

She is expected to remain hospitalized for another two to three weeks, according to a ******** page set up by a relative of Martin Romero."

http://www.ajc.com/father-children-stabbed-death-inside-gwinnett-home/

Family photo at link

 

[BelleIsle]

The hairline balding could be due to her repeatedly pulling her hair into a very tight ponytail, also hormonal issues can cause it. I don't like how tightly she is gripping the arms of the toddler in that photo. The whole thing is sickening. I am so sorry for these innocent souls, and hope that the surviving child recovers and has some caring family to take her in.

 

[LietKynes]

It looks like the taller girl with the pink shirt (in the photo of the murderer with the two girls) has a black eye.
I'm betting there were warning signs or that there was abuse happening.

 

[Meryl12]

It was reported that interviewing the mother was complicated by the fact that she only spoke her native Spanish. So whatever indicators there may have been that she was becoming mentally unstable would have gone un-noticed because she was also isolated by the language barrier. The father probably noticed his wife was going off the rails but he would have been too busy working to support his large family. He was only 33 years old with a wife and 5 children, we have not been told her age yet, but the oldest child is 10 years old and the youngest is 2 years old. He was supporting his first child at 23 and they had another child every 2 years after that. He had a lot of responsibility and she was isolated by language. I suspect most of the children also spoke English, they would learn quickly and easily, Mom was the only one who hadn't. JMOO