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(Nov. 12, 2014) Just two days before a psychiatry appointment for medication, Derek Ward beheaded his mother, Professor Pat Ward, before jumping in front of an oncoming train in Long Island and ending his own life, reports the New York Daily News (“Farmingdale mom was beheaded by disturbed son two days before meeting psychiatrist to obtain his medication,” Oct. 31).

Thirty-five-year-old Ward had struggled with psychiatric problems over the course of the past decade, which included hearing voices and a six-week stay in a Long Island psychiatric hospital in August 2013.

But his uncle, Robert Lubrano, said Ward had never been violent before.

“He never raised his hand to [his mother] before this,” Lubrano said. “Never had a gun. This is all about mental illness and the difficulty of getting a psychiatrist.”

In the days before the attack, Ward had become increasingly unstable. He was unable to get his medication because he couldn’t find a doctor that accepted Medicaid. His mother reportedly begged to have her son visit the emergency room but he refused.

“We tried to convince her to go to police, but she was terrified of the police. She thought they might hurt him,” Ward’s uncle told the New York Daily News.

“She had an appointment set up for (Friday). She finally met a compassionate psychiatrist, but she’ll never make it to see him.”

Despite the gruesome tragedy and the death of his sister, Ward’s uncle said,”My nephew was not a bad person, just a sick person.”

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