Photo: Bullitt County Detention Center/Facebook
Tiffanie Lucas, a Kentucky mother accused of killing her two young sons, is planning to use an insanity defense in her upcoming trial. According to a motion filed in Bullitt Circuit Court on Wednesday, September 11, Lucas’ defense attorney intends to “assert a defense of insanity at the time of the alleged offense.”
Lucas is charged with the tragic deaths of her two sons, 6-year-old Maurice Baker Jr. and 9-year-old Jayden Howard, who were found fatally shot in their Shepherdsville, Kentucky home on November 8, 2023. The boys were discovered in a bedroom of the house after police responded to a distress call from the scene.
The motion, also states that Lucas’ defense team plans to “introduce at trial expert evidence relating to a mental disease, mental defect, or other mental condition bearing on the issue of guilt and the issue of punishment.” This suggests that her legal team will present psychiatric evaluations or expert testimony to support her insanity plea.
At a hearing in November 2023, a detective who had responded to the crime scene testified about the sequence of events, according to reports from WHAS 11. Lucas was found outside the home, collapsing in the driveway of a neighbor’s property when officers arrived.
During her questioning by police, Lucas reportedly stated that the incident “was an accident,” according to the detective’s testimony. WAVE reported this claim, though the circumstances of the shooting remain under investigation.
The tragic case has left the local community in shock, with many mourning the loss of the two young boys. As the legal proceedings unfold, the focus will be on Lucas’ mental state at the time of the crime and whether the defense’s insanity claim will be accepted in court.
If Lucas’ insanity defense is successful, it could result in a significantly different outcome for her in terms of both her guilt and the punishment she might face.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
