(Jan 12, 2017) A woman in the midst of a psychotic episode drove her car into a crowd at the 2015 Oklahoma State University (OSU) homecoming parade, killing four and injuring dozens more.
Adacia Chambers faced charges for this horrible tragedy on Tuesday when she was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea deal. But some question whether justice was really served in this case, or in any case for that matter, when the defendant suffers from a severe mental illness which may prevent them from distinguishing right from wrong (“Adacia Chambers called ‘sacrificial lamb’ for Oklahoma mental health treatment after getting life for OSU Homecoming parade crash,” Tulsa World, Jan. 11).
Tony Coleman, Chambers’ defense attorney, described the 26-year-old diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a “sacrificial lamb” for the state of mental illness treatment in Oklahoma in a news conference this week. “The system failed her,” he said.
Coleman argued that the crash would not have happened had Chambers been able to receive proper mental health treatment beforehand.
“Our mental-health care system in the state of Oklahoma is broken,” Coleman said. “It’s in bad shape, and something has to be done.”
Dr. Shawn Roberson, an expert witness for the defense, said that in his first evaluation of Chambers on Oct. 26, 2015, he found that she was suffering from acute psychosis, likely from severe bipolar disorder. Since being prescribed antidepressant and antipsychotic medications in custody, he said, her condition has improved to the point where she can now understand the charges against her.
Chambers’ father, Floyd Chambers, said he can’t begin to express the remorse he feels for the victims and their families.
“Some of them said they didn’t want to hear sorry,” he said. “But I don’t know of any other word to use.”
Mr. Chambers said his daughter admitted herself to mental health facilities on numerous occasions only to be turned away due to a lack of money. He added that he wants other families in need of mental-health treatment to get help before tragedy strikes.
The OSU parade crash was certainly a preventable tragedy, and everyone involved is a victim of a mental health system in disrepair.
Oklahoma maintains just 11 psychiatric beds per 100,000 people, far below the 50-bed minimum considered necessary to provide adequate treatment to people with serious mental illness.
It is time for Oklahoma to take a proactive approach and restore a sufficient number of beds to create access to inpatient care for individuals in psychiatric crisis. It could mean the difference between life and death.
Visit #aBedInstead to learn more about the Treatment Advocacy Center’s campaign to address our national psychiatric bed shortage.
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