September 16, 2010 – If you missed “Oprah” this afternoon, Thursday (09/1610), the country’s leading daytime television show featured a story that was first covered on HLN’s groundbreaking, “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell” over two weeks ago on the Orangeburg, South Carolina mother, Shaquan Duley, accused of killing her two young sons.
Her mother, Helen Duley, who spoke of the tragedy candidly to Oprah, brought the queen of talk to tears. Mom Duley accentuated precisely what family law expert, DEBRA OPRI, voiced on “Issues with JVM” when the story first broke (which Velez-Mitchell brought to national consciousness). According to Opri, the 29-year-old single mom who confessed to suffocating 2-year-old Devan Duley and 1-year-old Je'Van inside a hotel room at Orangeburg's Trumps Inn, then dumping them into the river, is textbook “massive depressive and obviously suffered a psychotic break.”
A pathologist's report supported Duley's confession.
Helen Duley vocalized to the television audience today that she knew her daughter was depressed but never thought she would take such drastic action. "She was highly upset, raging, acting like a crazy person," Helen Duley told Winfrey when discussing her daughter’s mindset in the hours leading up to the drowning.
"The thought never came in my mind that she would do anything like this," Duley's sister Adriane told Oprah on Thursday. "I'm totally shocked. She must of snapped," "
Adriane said Duley was in a manic state before the deaths and became irate after a fight over her inability to take care of her children.
Opri’s legal assessment of the accused mother broadcast nationally nearly three weeks ago was validated today by Duley's attorney, Carl Grant, who appeared alongside the family on “Oprah.” He relayed that mental health workers met with Duley hours after the incident and diagnosed her with severe major depressive disorder with psychotic tendencies. He emphasized this diagnosis shows “Duley didn't know right from wrong” at the time of the killing.
Grant also said Duley tried to slit her wrists with a box cutter that same day, took 12 headache powders and tried to drown herself in the river. Duley remains in jail after being denied bond on Monday, Sept. 13. They are, as Opri predicated, presenting an insanity defense.
Her mother, Helen Duley, who spoke of the tragedy candidly to Oprah, brought the queen of talk to tears. Mom Duley accentuated precisely what family law expert, DEBRA OPRI, voiced on “Issues with JVM” when the story first broke (which Velez-Mitchell brought to national consciousness). According to Opri, the 29-year-old single mom who confessed to suffocating 2-year-old Devan Duley and 1-year-old Je'Van inside a hotel room at Orangeburg's Trumps Inn, then dumping them into the river, is textbook “massive depressive and obviously suffered a psychotic break.”
A pathologist's report supported Duley's confession.
Helen Duley vocalized to the television audience today that she knew her daughter was depressed but never thought she would take such drastic action. "She was highly upset, raging, acting like a crazy person," Helen Duley told Winfrey when discussing her daughter’s mindset in the hours leading up to the drowning.
"The thought never came in my mind that she would do anything like this," Duley's sister Adriane told Oprah on Thursday. "I'm totally shocked. She must of snapped," "
Adriane said Duley was in a manic state before the deaths and became irate after a fight over her inability to take care of her children.
Opri’s legal assessment of the accused mother broadcast nationally nearly three weeks ago was validated today by Duley's attorney, Carl Grant, who appeared alongside the family on “Oprah.” He relayed that mental health workers met with Duley hours after the incident and diagnosed her with severe major depressive disorder with psychotic tendencies. He emphasized this diagnosis shows “Duley didn't know right from wrong” at the time of the killing.
Grant also said Duley tried to slit her wrists with a box cutter that same day, took 12 headache powders and tried to drown herself in the river. Duley remains in jail after being denied bond on Monday, Sept. 13. They are, as Opri predicated, presenting an insanity defense.
