"Autism."

Mother Testifies On Her Own Behalf

The Morton mother is on trial in Tazewell County court for killing her three--year--old daughter Katie.

McCarron is charged with two counts of first--degree murder, obstructing justice and concealment of a homicidal death.

This morning McCarron told her defense attorney that she felt responsible for Katie's autism because she allowed her the child to get vaccinated.

She said it "brought me a great deal of guilt."

The defendant said she also stopped taking her medication for depression in the months leading up to her little girl's death in May of 2006.

During cross--examination prosecutor Kevin Johnson pulled out a white garbage bag similar to the one McCarron allegedly used to suffocate her daughter.

Using his fist as the little girl's head, he had McCarron demonstrate how she killed the child.

When Johnson asked McCarron how long she held the bag over Katie's head, McCarron replied for about two minutes until she stopped struggling and defecated on herself.

Testimony is done for the day. The trial resumes Monday. ©2007 WEEK--TV. All Rights Reserved.

Woman told police she killed autistic daughter to 'fix her'

"Maybe I could fix her this way, and in heaven she would be complete," McCarron told police during the interview May 15, 2006, two days after she allegedly killed 3-year-old Katherine "Katie" McCarron by suffocating her with a plastic garbage bag.

McCarron, 39, described the killing in her own words and gave a first--hand account of what took place the day she drove to her mother's empty Morton home a few blocks away from her own. There, she wrapped a garbage bag around Katie's head while she played with toys on the floor.

"I didn't wake up that morning thinking I was going to do this," McCarron said on the video, saying it was a "spur of the moment" idea.

"It was just so fast. Everything happened so fast."

McCarron couldn't accept Katie's autism, she said, something witnesses have testified to during the past four days.

"I loved Katie very much, but I hated the autism so, so much," McCarron said. "I hated what it was doing to her."

McCarron's thoughts of hurting the child started about a year before the slaying, she said, but she put them out of her mind. Those thoughts "were so intense" the day of the murder, she said.

McCarron said she felt like a failure because of Katie's autism and was sad and hurt because the child couldn't interact with her very well.

"I just wanted autism out of my life," she said, adding it was frustrating and heartbreaking for her to watch the child fail at simple tasks.

She also said she felt "relieved" after the murder because she no longer had to deal with Katie's autism.

She described taking Katie's lifeless body back to her own house and putting her in bed as if she were asleep. She then went to the store, bought ice cream and went back to her mother's to retrieve the garbage bag because, "if things get bad, their house would be searched."

McCarron also told police about her suicide attempt with Tylenol and a kitchen knife.

"I attempted to do one slice against my wrist, but I didn't like it," she said, adding she didn't know if she'd be brave enough to go through with it.

Police interviewing McCarron, a former pathologist and graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, asked her if she knew what she did was criminally wrong, to which she said, "I have enough education to know that."

McCarron also described the moment she first learned Katie had autism and how it changed everything.

"I cried hard when she first got her (autism) diagnosis. Then I stopped crying. I was always trying to figure out how to cure it," she said.

Family members who have testified said both statements were true of McCarron, who showed no emotion toward the girl and didn't cry after her death.

They said McCarron was obsessed with finding a cure, doing research, hiring therapists and putting Katie in a special school in North Carolina. They also said the progress Katie made was never good enough for McCarron, who was constantly critical of the girl.

"I tried very hard to lessen the effects of autism," she said. "I sent her to a very good school."

Prosecutors rested their case Thursday after calling forensic pathologist Violette Hnilica to the stand. Hnilica performed the autopsy on Katie and said the girl had teeth marks on the insides of her lips, a bite mark on her tongue and signs of pressure against her mouth.

McCarron Trial: Day 5

Karen McCarron was on the stand for almost two hours. Under oath McCarron told the jury she felt responsible for her daughter's autism because of vaccinations given to Katie as an infant.

McCarron reenacted for the prosecution how she put the bag over her Katie's [head] to kill her. McCarron said she didn't think she was killing her, but instead thought she was freeing Katie of autism. She also admitted she hated autism more than she loved her own daughter. In retrospect she testified it was quote "a sick, sick" choice. She said she had been depressed for months and had gone off her medication just a few weeks before Katie’s death. McCarron even admitted to trying to kill Katie three days before going through with it.

The judge said he hopes to have the case handed over to the jury by Wednesday.

Karen McCarron took the stand
in her own murder trial

Karen McCarron sat with her head down, her hands folded and talked very quietly at times.

She talked about attempting to murder her daughter a few days before she allegedly killed Katie McCarron. During the alleged attempted murder, McCarron says she put a pillow over her daughters face and then removed it.

The prosecution had McCarron act out what she's accused of doing to Katie McCarron.

She used a plastic garbage bag and pulled it tight to show how she allegedly suffocated Katie McCarron.

McCarron admitted to going back to her mother's house and retrieving the garbage bag she allegedly used to kill Katie and dumping it in a trash can at a gas station.

McCarron also admitted to saying in a statement that she thought she might be able to get away with it.

McCarron said she didn't think she was killing her daughter, she said on the day she allegedly killed Katie McCarron, she thought she was killing autism.

Tazewell County State's Attorney Stu Umholtz says jurors will have four options to choose from when deciding McCarron's fate: guilty, not guilty, guilty but mentally ill, and not guilty by reason of insanity.

Mother testifies she tried
to kill daughter before

Karen McCarron also details how she suffocated child

"It was just a thought," McCarron said as she testified during the fifth day of her murder trial in Tazewell County Circuit Court. "I just picked up a pillow."

McCarron went into 3-year-old Katherine "Katie" McCarron's room May 10, 2006, she said, intending to kill her with the pillow but removed it from her face after, "not even five seconds," and left the girl's room because she knew what she was doing was wrong.

Three days later, McCarron drove to her mother's empty Morton home with Katie and wrapped a garbage bag around her head until she died.

Kevin Johnson, chief assistant Tazewell County state's attorney, gave McCarron a garbage bag Friday and had her re--enact how she suffocated the girl.

McCarron and Johnson stood together in the courtroom as she put the bag over Johnson's arm, a representation of Katie's head, and demonstrated for jurors how the murder took place.

"I pushed her down to her knees," McCarron said, and the two sat on the floor in front of the jury.

McCarron kneeled next to Johnson, her hands around the bag on his arm, as the questions and answers continued.

"I just scrunched the bag," she said and recalled letting it go after about two minutes because "she stopped struggling."

McCarron told jurors how she then listened for a heartbeat.

"I just put my ear to her chest," said McCarron, a former pathologist and graduate of Southern Illinois University of Medicine in Springfield. "I heard one, then I heard nothing."

Johnson outlined all of the steps McCarron took that day -- the suffocation, bringing the girl's body home and putting her in bed, throwing the bag away at a gas station and telling emergency workers the child died in her sleep.

McCarron acknowledged doing all of those things with simple "yes" answers, speaking softly from the stand.

McCarron said of the scene that unfolded at her mother's:

"I just watched it happen," she said. "It was like a movie. It was surreal."

For the past week, jurors have heard emotional testimony from McCarron's family, but there were no tears or emotion from McCarron.

She said she was frustrated with Katie's autism and was having homicidal and suicidal thoughts before killing her.

"I was very much in turmoil," she said.

At her mother's house, McCarron said she considered killing herself or killing her daughter and the consequences each choice would bring. She then chose to kill Katie.

"At that moment, unfortunately, I felt that it was a good choice," she said.

McCarron was seeing a psychiatrist and was taking psychotropic medications for depression but stopped taking them a month before the murder.

She said she felt guilty about Katie's autism and thought it may have been caused by vaccinations the girl was given when she was younger.

"I had such guilt, and her behavior often increased my feelings of guilt," she said. "I felt I caused Katie's autism."

Defense attorneys Marc Wolfe and Steve Baker have entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

"When you were suffocating your daughter, did you think you were killing her?" Wolfe asked McCarron.

"No."

"Who did you think you were killing?"

"Autism."

McCarron told police in a 2006 videotaped interview, which was played in court Thursday, she wanted a life without autism and said Katie's autism left her feeling hollow inside. "It frustrated me completely," she told jurors.

McCarron was the only witness Wolfe called on Friday, and the trial was continued until Monday. He is expected to call a medical expert to testify about McCarron's mental state.

Judge Stephen Kouri said testimony could conclude Wednesday.

Mom Confesses She Killed Autistic Child

PEKIN, Ill. (AP) -- A woman accused of killing her autistic daughter testified Friday that she attempted to suffocate the 3-year-old with a pillow three days before she succeeded with a plastic garbage bag.

Karen McCarron said she couldn't go through with it using the pillow. When prosecutor Kevin Johnson asked her how long she held the bag over the toddler's head soon after, she replied about two minutes -- until little Katie stopped struggling.

In a videotaped confession played in court Thursday, McCarron said she began having thoughts of hurting her daughter a year before the May 2006 slaying but put them out of her mind. On the day of the killing, though, the thoughts were stronger than ever.

"They were so intense," McCarron said.

McCarron, 39, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder, obstructing justice and concealment of a homicidal death. She was found mentally fit to stand trial, but a medical expert hired by her attorneys has said she was insane at the time of the killing.

The trial resumes Monday.

McCarron, a former pathologist, testified she felt responsible for Katie's autism because she allowed the child to get vaccinated. Some people believe autism is caused by a mercury--containing preservative once used in childhood vaccines.

It "brought me a great deal of guilt," she said.

Using a plastic bag and the prosecutor's arm, McCarron demonstrated for jurors in Tazewell County Circuit Court how she placed a bag over her daughter's head and pushed her to her knees, the (Peoria) Journal Star and the Pekin Daily Times reported.

"Were you able to see her face as she fell to the floor?" Johnson asked.

"Yes. I could see her face through the trash bag," McCarron answered.

McCarron said she listened for a heartbeat after Katie stopped struggling.

"I just put my ear to her chest," McCarron said. "I heard one, then I heard nothing."

The child had scratch marks on her head and bite marks were found inside her mouth and on the bag as she apparently tried to free herself, according to other testimony.

The taped confession was made while McCarron was hospitalized after attempting suicide, investigators said. Wearing a hospital gown, she appears sitting on a bed next to her husband, Paul McCarron.

Karen McCarron said she killed her child hoping to "fix her" and give her peace in heaven.

"Maybe I could fix her this way, and in heaven she would be complete," she said on the tape.

Karen McCarron said on the videotape that she took her daughter's body back to her own house and put her in bed. She then went to the store, bought ice cream and returned to her mother's home to get the garbage bag because, "if things get bad, their house would be searched."

Interviewers asked McCarron if she knew what she did was criminally wrong.

"I have enough education to know that," she answered.

McCarron told police she felt like a failure because of the child's autism and was sad and hurt because the child couldn't interact with her very well.

"I loved Katie very much, but I hated the autism so, so much," McCarron said. "I hated what it was doing to her. ... I just wanted autism out of my life."

Photographs of Katie have been made available for public use by her grandfather. Download yours here: Katie McCarron Photos

Initial news reports on Katie's murder
Daughter's murder puts focus on 'toll of autism' With a cautionary note by us on that "toll of autism" thing.
'This was not about autism', grandfather says
Katie's father files for divorce, citing 'extreme mental cruelty'
Karen McCarron admitted to planning the murder
'She told me she killed Katie'
Karen was described as 'lucid' and 'very calm'
Karen's taped confession played in pretrial hearing: 'I wanted to take the autism out of her'
Pretrial and opening statements
Katie's grandpa testifies: Karen thought her life would be 'perfect'. Also, Katie's dad says Karen wanted to institutionalize Katie; Katie's teachers said she was doing fine.
Relatives testify: Karen told Katie's grandma many times she wished Katie was dead
Karen on tape: 'In heaven, she would be complete'
Experts testify to Karen's 'insanity' -- 'She thought Katie and autism were two different things'. (If so, what about those NYU autism ransom notes?

More analysis of the Journal-Star articles.
Murder of Autistics (Archive)

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