Jacqueline Stout of Canton, Ohio didn’t want to die alone when she killed herself, so she drugged her two children, possibly with Kool-Aid laced with prescription pills, authorities say. Stout and the children survived, and police have charged the 24-year-old mother with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of child endangering.
Stout sent her husband a text message stating that she was suicidal and had just tried to kill his children. He didn’t get the message right away, and Stout followed with a phone call a minute later stating that she had given the children a lot of medication.
Adam Stout drove to his wife’s home and called 911. The children were sleeping and Jacqueline Stout was on a couch with a knife in her hand and had been cutting her arm, the filing said. All three were lethargic.
The 6-year-old boy said his mother had given him “more than four” pills that were “red, green and blue,” and had crushed the pills and put them into his Kool-Aid, according to the court filing. The 4-year-old girl also reported drinking Kool-Aid given by her mother.
Jacqueline Stout told investigators that she got into an argument with her husband, who told her "that he was leaving and she shouldn’t ever call him again."
Stout said she wanted to kill the children so that they could ‘go with her’ when she died.
The main concerns wereAdam Stout’s “severe mental health issues,” his attempt to kill himself with prescription medication in 2009 and concerns about violence in the home. The agency placed the children with relatives, but returned them to Jacqueline Stout in May on the condition that the family remain under the protective supervision of Job and Family Services. Adam Stout was no longer living in the home.
A psychological evaluation revealed no concerns about Jacqueline Stout’s mental health, and didn’t indicate that she was having thoughts of suicide.
