Family Says Mom Who Murdered Kids Had History Of Mental Illness
Anne-Marie Green reports...
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Family members are talking to CBS3 about Chanthy Mao, the 27-year-old South Philadelphia mother accused of killing her two children on Wednesday night (see related story).
Mao's husband, Cesar Rosado, says he believes his wife has bipolar disorder, that she was on medication, and that she, in fact, had tried to do something violent several times before while taking the medication. He also says that she absolutely loved her children, and that he is destroyed by the events of Wednesday night.
Rosado says he still remembers the last conversation she had with her sister, Chan, just before she returned to school at Penn State.
"She said, 'Our family is poor, but get a college degree,'" Chan tearfully told Eyewitness news.
Chan also says that no matter how hard she tried to connect with Chanthy, the 27 year-old would not open up about the stress that she was under or depression that she was being treated for.
"She had some mental problems, but she always goes to see the doctor every appointment, and the last appointment was on last Tuesday," Chan said.
Mao came to the US from Cambodia six years ago, and her family says that, while the children were adjusting well, Mao was finding her new life challenging. Still, they never expected things to go this badly.
"I would never thought she would do something like that. She loved them so much," Chanthy's sister said.
"She is the most kind person I have ever met in my life. She never would even hurt a bug. She's bipolar. She has been on medication, and…about a year or so ago, she tried to kill herself, also on medication…It is a shame. It is a shame. She's a most loving person in the world, and she didn't do this, and this could have been prevented," Mao's husband said, adding that this is not the wife he knows.
Last night, police were called to the apartment Chanthy shares with her parents and another sister. Police say she was acting irrationally and told them she stabbed and killed her eight-year-old son Savann and 12 year-old daughter Savanna.
Mao was taken to police headquarters, where she underwent a psychiatric evaluation. She is now facing murder charges.
Reported by Anne-Marie Green, Dray Clark and Todd Quinones, CBS 3
