Laurel Schlemmer

Case record: Laurel Schlemmer

Laurel Michelle Schlemmer was accused of drowning two young boys in a bathtub in McCandless, Pennsylvania, after telling investigators she heard “crazy voices” telling her to push them underwater. She was described as psychotic and suicidal by a jail psychiatrist.

Background

Schlemmer was 40 years old and lived in McCandless, Pennsylvania. Her husband was Mark Schlemmer, an actuary at Highmark. She and her husband moved into their two-story colonial home on Saratoga Drive a short while after they married in 2005. Schlemmer had been a regular at the North Park Church and had attended Bible studies since at least her 20s.

Schlemmer graduated from North Allegheny High School in 1992. She went to Grove City College, studied elementary education there, and graduated in 1996. She worked briefly for the Eden Christian Academy in Sewickley, and then worked for the Fox Chapel Area School District from 1999 through 2004. State records indicated she was certified at various times as a reading specialist and that there were not any disciplinary reports noted in her file.

A pastor, Dan Hendley, said Daniel Schlemmer, who had Tourette syndrome, remained in critical condition after the incident, “in a coma and suffering from oxygen deprivation.” Hendley said Daniel normally would have been at school during the time police said Schlemmer attempted to drown the two boys.

Hendley said Mark Schlemmer was trying to support his sons and would like to support his wife as well, and that he was “distressed over what’s occurred,” but “not hostile or angry at all.” Another pastor, Rev. Bob Shull, described the Schlemmers as a “wonderful couple, strong Christians,” and said he officiated their wedding ceremony in 2005.

A church community member, Rev. Hendley, also described a prior incident involving Schlemmer’s van and the two younger boys. Hendley said the incident happened about 10 months earlier outside the children’s grandparents’ home in a town near McCandless. He said there was no concern that something was amiss at the time and that “there was no concern that there was anything but a terrible accident that occurred in that situation.” Hendley said one of the boys “could not walk for a while” and that Schlemmer thought the boys had run inside when they were in back of the van.

The offence

Police and detectives said Schlemmer told them she tried to drown her 3- and 6-year-old sons by sitting on them in the tub. Investigators said she said she was fully clothed when she sat on the boys to hold them underwater after a third son left for school.

Luke Schlemmer was 3 years old. Daniel Schlemmer was 6 years old and was in critical condition. Their older brother was 7 years old and was at school at the time of the incident and was not harmed.

Schlemmer allegedly told investigators and police that she heard “crazy voices” telling her to submerge the boys and that she believed she could be a better mother to her oldest son if the younger boys were “better off in heaven.”

Verbatim statements attributed to Schlemmer in the material included:

• “crazy voices”
• “fully clothed”
• “Schlemmer said after the boys got into the tub, she got into the tub ‘fully clothed’ and ‘crazy voices’ were telling her to push the boys down into the water,” read a criminal complaint.
• “Schlemmer explained that at one point she [was] sitting on top of the boys while they were under the water in the tub.”
• “Schlemmer explained that at one point she [was] sitting on top of boys while they were under the water in the tub.”
• “Schlemmer explained that she believed she could be a better mother” to her oldest son “if the other two boys weren’t around,” according to the court documents.
• “if the other two boys weren’t around and they would be better off in heaven.”
• “better off in heaven.”
• “Um, my two sons,” Laurel Michelle Schlemmer told the 911 call-taker Tuesday morning. “I think that they’ve, they’ve drowned in our bathtub.”
• “I, uh, let my 6- and 3-year old sons play in the bathtub a little bit before their bath this morning,” she said during the 911 call. “And, uh, I was, and then I went to, to the restroom and, um, took longer than I should have or planned and then I came back. They’re unconscious.”
• “Just water,” she replied when asked about anything in their mouths.

Detectives said Schlemmer pulled both unconscious boys from the tub and laid them on the bathroom floor before calling 911. She told police she did not attempt CPR because she did not know how to perform the procedure. The material also said she allegedly tried to hide her wet clothes in a trash bag before paramedics responded.

Paramedics rushed Luke and Daniel Schlemmer to UPMC Passavant Hospital. The material said Luke died about an hour after Schlemmer called 911. Luke was later described as being pronounced dead at around 10:50 a.m.

Daniel Schlemmer was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at UPMC. The material said he remained in critical condition and suffered from oxygen deprivation. The material later said Daniel died four days after Luke, and that an Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Saturday that Daniel died.

Investigation and authorities’ actions

A jail psychiatrist, Dr. Christine Martone, testified to a court that Schlemmer was mentally incompetent to stand trial and should receive treatment at a state institution to determine whether she could stand trial in the future.

Judge Jeffrey Manning issued a gag order at the request of Schlemmer’s attorney, Michael Machen, meaning no one involved was permitted to comment on the competency finding. The competency finding was described in the material as subject to review in 90 days.

Schlemmer’s preliminary hearing that had been scheduled for Friday was postponed indefinitely. The material said county prosecutors did not immediately amend the criminal charges to add a second count of criminal homicide after Daniel died, but they were expected to do so eventually.

The material said the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare was reviewing the drownings and the family’s contact with the Allegheny County’s Office of Children, Youth and Families. The material said the county agency had first contacted the family last year after Schlemmer backed her van into the same two boys, and that the county office determined that was an accident after consulting with doctors and police.

Arrest and custody

Schlemmer was arrested after she called 911. The material described that she was ordered held without bail after she was arraigned on charges that included criminal homicide, aggravated assault and child endangerment.

In court, Schlemmer was described as appearing by video monitor from the jail wearing a black suicide vest. Another part of the material said she was on suicide watch in jail while awaiting psychiatric evaluation.

Trial and competency evaluation

Dr. Christine Martone testified that Laurel Michelle Schlemmer was psychotic and suicidal and had a major depressive disorder. The material said the psychiatrist recommended treatment at Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township, about 45 miles east of Pittsburgh, before her condition was reviewed to determine if she could stand trial in the future.

Judge Jeffrey Manning issued the gag order at the request of Schlemmer’s attorney, Michael Machen. The material also stated that the competency can be reviewed in 90 days.

The material said Schlemmer was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and transferred to a psychiatric hospital.

Sentencing

No sentencing outcome was described in the material.

Appeals

No appeals outcome was described in the material.

Outcome

Luke Schlemmer, 3, died after being taken to UPMC Passavant Hospital. Daniel Schlemmer, 6, was on life support and later died at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Schlemmer was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and was ordered to be treated at a state mental hospital to determine her competency in the future.

Aftermath and related proceedings

The material stated that the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare was reviewing the drownings and the family’s contact with Allegheny County’s Office of Children, Youth and Families. It said the state workers had determined the prior van incident was an accident after consulting with doctors and police and that the state was not called in to investigate because of that determination.

The material also described prior trouble involving Schlemmer’s treatment of children:

• Schlemmer was given a citation for leaving a toddler unattended in a parked car in September 2009 in Ross Township. The material said court records did not indicate which child was in the car, but police said the car’s interior reached 112 degrees. The child was not hurt and Schlemmer paid a small fine.
• The material described an earlier incident involving her van and the two boys in which Northern Regional Police investigated and did not file charges, and Allegheny County’s district attorney’s office said it learned about the incident after the boys were found unconscious Tuesday, with police reports transmitted for inclusion in the current investigation.

Other details

The material mentioned the 911 call timeline and content:

• Schlemmer reported to the 911 call-taker Tuesday morning that her “two sons” had drowned in the bathtub.
• During the call, when asked “Are they breathing?” she said, “It doesn’t look like it, sir.”
• The call-taker asked her to return to the bathroom to start CPR; paramedics arrived moments later.
• Schlemmer yelled for her elderly mother and for paramedics to come upstairs during the 911 call.
• When asked about anything in their mouths, she replied, “Just water.”

The material also described Schlemmer’s mental state as portrayed by friends and family before the incident. Rev. Hendley said he knew Schlemmer had “anxiety issues” and that they were working through them with some medical assistance, and that nothing suggested she would kill one of the children.