Coppell's Mayor and Daughter

You want to blow your own brains out.i say go right ahead but leave others out of it. What she was afraid to go alone? I have zero sympathy for this woman. To take her daughters life was a selfish act.
Use being mentally unstable or being crazy as a reason. I personally don't buy it.
A cowards way out especially so since she didn't go alone.

I hear you...nothing to understand.

Unless you understand depression, nothing in this will make sense to you. I don't know what makes a depressed person want to kill someone else, but you have to understand how the chemicals that cause depression change the way a person thinks. When I had it, it never occurred to me to take someone else's life, but you do look at other people and wonder why they don't understand how hopeless things really are. You look at people who are laughing or smiling and honestly and genuinely wonder what is wrong with them. You honestly think that they are deluded and can't see the obvious. That may well play a role in what the woman did.

It begs the question of how nuts she was as the Mayor? lack of rational thought at home had to carry over to being nuts on the job also.

No real use in trying to figure out what happened.

Maybe she got in an argument with the the daughter about something, words were exchanged and mom went off and shot the 19 year old.

Then once she realized what she did, mom went around in a weird state of mind and wrote notes, fed the dogs, got everything ready and offed herself.

Will they be having a special election now? Originally Posted by LazurusLong

Maybe the world will realize that your background holds no merit on what a person is capable of.

"You can be fine wine or sour grapes"

I think there should be character background check's.
black and white sometimes leave out the gray which is the character,
my grandpa was drinking man, which is bad to some, but when you work hard to take care of your family and run a construction site, you deserve a drink when you want, hell he would have made a better mayor than this one

Unless you understand depression, nothing in this will make sense to you... Originally Posted by TexTushHog

My feeling is that even to those who have experienced depression her act won't make sense outside of its torturous grasp.

However, even in the most agonizing worst days after my wife's passing never, ever, not even a glint of a notion to kill my children came to my crazed/hate filled/depressed mind. Hell, they were the reason I got out of bed each morning!

To take her daughters life was a selfish act...

A cowards way out especially so since she didn't go alone. Originally Posted by looiecypher

Absolutely correct!
I've heard it put that suicide is cowardly or selfish, this woman managed a twofer.

From latest reports ...Mother was being investigated for mis using her city credit card and purchasing personal items ....Daughter was not registered to Attend UT ...but everyone thought she was ..there are numerous items that dont make sense in this scenario.I'm sure in the next few weeks or months and rumors are abound, the real reasons will be forthcoming ...But if she was down and depressed there is STILL no reason to take anothers life because of your problems...A suicide never thinks of the pain and suffering that loved ones must endure,and questions that are never answered because of their selfishness .......thats my two cents worth ....T

Sounds like the Junior League needed to have a counseling service for those attempting to cope with not having the big money crutch anymore.

RE: Depression -

TTH is right. After having spent 30 days in a "facility" 24 years ago for a major depressive episode, I can safely say that not only is the brain an electrical device, it is also a chemical one. The outpatient attempts to adjust with meds was worse than being depressed. Hell, one can know what they are doing and still think that they are powerless to stop themselves. When the body/brain chemicals get out of whack, some weird shit can happen. And, as in the hobby, WALDT.

You want to blow your own brains out.i say go right ahead but leave others out of it. What she was afraid to go alone? I have zero sympathy for this woman. To take her daughters life was a selfish act.
Use being mentally unstable or being crazy as a reason. I personally don't buy it.
A cowards way out especially so since she didn't go alone. Originally Posted by looiecypher

This is a pretty cold attitude, loo. But hey, if it helps you get through the night. I cannot imagine NOT having some sympathy for a person who is so close to the edge of just "being" that she/he feels the only option is to die. And it's even more horrific to kill someone else in the process.

I know that I'm sensitive to others. Maybe too female at times. But I feel competely sadden that someone was so unhappy and completely at the edge of a cliff that she felt she had no other options but to do this.

I just hope that family members and friends are able to have closure. Of course, I also wish this for others who have to weather this sort of tragedy.

The comments are so appreciated and the different viewpoints as well. (Including yours, looiecypher!)

Thank you,
Elisabeth

...But if she was down and depressed there is STILL no reason to take anothers life because of your problems...A suicide never thinks of the pain and suffering that loved ones must endure,and questions that are never answered because of their selfishness .......thats my two cents worth ....T Originally Posted by tsrv4me

You are right... but it's not quite that simple. When you are in that sort of place you can't apply reasoning and logic. I can't emphasize this enough, if you haven't been at that point, you really don't understand it.

It's not fair to pass judgement on someone for this sort of thing. The old adage "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" is entirely appropriate - though in this case it would be "live a few months in someone else's depression".

In many ways it is very selfish of survivors to blame the dead person for the hurt and suffering the survivor feels. It's not their fault you are feeling that way. They were hurting and they chose a way to make their pain go away forever. One could say they took the "cowards" way out. But is that really correct? Or even appropriate? Most people shy away from the idea of suicide for a variety of reasons, be they religious, social or simply biological.

When a soldier charges a machine gun nest and knows its probably a suicide charge, just for the possibility that one of his squad mates will get close enough to toss a grenade in there, that's a hero's death. He knew he was going to die, but he did it anyway for the chance that someone else might live. That's okay because it's an 'us vs. them' sort of ideal.

Yet when a person who has seen their life crumble around them, is hurting and chooses to stop the hurt and refuses to be burden on others, we call that person a coward for taking their own life. How is it cowardly? How many of us can say we have braved our own demons and we are at the point where we can choose to live or die? It takes a LOT to get yourself to the precipice and throw yourself over.

It would appear that what she did was pre-meditated. She was an adult and she chose to live (and end) her life as she saw fit. It is indeed unfortunate that she took her daughter's life as well. Perhaps she thought she was sparing her daughter from the lifelong pain of losing both parents, of having everything she knew taken away from her. We might never know. And, lets be honest here, for most of us we didn't know the family so any outrage or disgust is misplaced. It doesn't affect us, we didn't know them, so we are merely speculating and expressing our opinions.

But one good question to ask yourself is this - are you more upset about the act, or the fact that you are confronted with your own mortality and you don't like being reminded you too are going to die eventually?

From latest reports ...Mother was being investigated for mis using her city credit card and purchasing personal items ....Daughter was not registered to Attend UT ...but everyone thought she was ..there are numerous items that dont make sense in this scenario.I'm sure in the next few weeks or months and rumors are abound, the real reasons will be forthcoming ... Originally Posted by tsrv4me

Wow. That's interesting news. So this story is starting to unravel. Suprised about the daughter not attending UT. That was something unexpected. You're right, though, I bet that a lot of facts will come to the surface.

Elisabeth

While it is certainly reasonable for the mayor (and daughter) to have heavy grief at the loss of the husband/father it seems to me that the thing having even more impact was his lack of life insurance resulting in the subsequent home foreclosures and the inability to keep up appearances.

Somebody somewhere said something about not building things on sand.

But, it's all rather immaterial since they're both gone and everyone else is left to jack off at the "why's." My ex's father killed himself with, no doubt, the idea that his exit would make everything better by removing a "burden" (he had some health issues that were only going to get worse, but that would have been some years down the road). Well, guess the f*ck what? All it did was screw up his wife and my ex.

PLAY THE DAMN HAND you're dealt and honestly look for ways to survive - who gives a rat's ass about falling in "social stature?" The problem with her appears to be that she was too worried about appearances and not worried enough about having an actual life. If the daughter had any mental horsepower, she could have come out alright doing 2 years of Community College and 2 years at something like UTA. Sadly, she may have been going after her MRS degree, and I don't mean Masters of Rocket Science.

Not only was the daughter not registered, all of her friends who are attending UT in the fall thought she was going as well. Unfortunately folks won't know what really happened in that house.

Here is an article that sheds some light on some of the facts of the case.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_649855.html

Seems that the family adjusted very poorly to the husband/father's death; that the death left them in very bad financial straight; and that rather than seek help outside the family, they turned inward as the problems spiraled out of control. A perfect set up for a major depressive episode, each one's depression feeding off the others. Almost a "perfect storm" depression situation. Very heart rending.

My sister lives in Coppell and knew the family and i met her on one occaision. She was a very bright intelligent woman but you wouldnt know the pain of losing her spouse. As many have said that depression works on those who have it in many different ways and I am sure there will be stories galore but the real truth probably will never be known.
The fact that notes were left and told what they would find says lots that no way was this going to end happy. The fact that her coworkers didnt have a clue is another sad fact that when depression is deeply rooted the mind will go at great lengths to accomplish a obviuosly sad outcome. Its quite possible she killed her daughter simply because if she only committed suicide the daughter would be left with two deceased parents within 2 years tough no matter what for a nineteen year old so in essence she took her with her

I think state law mandates a special election within 120 days.....

Her husband died from cancer in 2008 and did not have life insurance. I'm sure it became very difficult to pay the mortagage on the $400,000 home, and maintain the way of life they were accustomed to when the husband/father was alive. In today's world, too many people get their self-worth from how much money they make, what car they drive, the size of their houses, etc., etc., which means financial hardships strip them of everything as far as they are concerned. Unfortunately, some people cannot deal with financial hardships, or hardships in general, so they are lost when they are forced to deal with hardships.

I have family who live in Coppell. Supposedly, the mother was shielding her daughter from the financial hardships, so the daughter was completely in the dark about the fact the mom could not afford to send her to college much less pay the mortgage. I was told, the mom presented her daughter with a new car, but it turns out the mom rented the car, then returned it a couple of days before she murdered her daughter and took her own life.

No one will ever know what transpired between the mother and daughter. No one will know how they were dealing with the death of the husband/father, but it doesn't matter because two (2) people are dead and there is no logical explanantion.