devastating Consequences

My daughter Christina was a bright, kind young woman—a college graduate with a degree in sociology from UC Santa Cruz. She was smart, hardworking, and had no history of violence or criminal behavior. But like many families, we did not fully understand the severity of her mental illness until it was too late.

After leaving home for college, Christina began struggling with her mental health. Two years before the tragedy, she was placed on a three-day psychiatric hold for what doctors described as “mania.” She briefly saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed medication. However, despite experiencing delusions and auditory hallucinations, she was never clearly diagnosed with schizophrenia.

In 2010, Christina moved in with her father while preparing for nursing school. She excelled at first, earning straight A’s, but soon began failing tests and struggling to sleep. She was being treated for anxiety, but her symptoms worsened. She spoke rapidly, acted frantically, and her behavior became increasingly concerning.

The night before tragedy struck, we had agreed that Christina would move to live with me in Mount Shasta, where life was quieter, and I could help support her. She planned to see her psychiatrist the next morning to adjust her medication before making the four-hour drive.

That night, Christina’s untreated psychosis spiraled out of control. She believed she was being followed, that voices from the FBI or CIA were coming through her car, and that she had to stop a catastrophic world event. In the grip of severe psychosis, she entered her father’s room intending to harm herself. Instead, responding to commanding voices she could not control, she shot and killed her father.

Christina loved her dad deeply. The tragedy was the result of untreated severe mental illness—not drugs or criminal intent.

She was arrested after being found the next day in a park in Oakland, in a severe psychotic state. After evaluation, multiple mental health professionals determined that Christina had schizophrenia. She ultimately pled guilty and was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and in 2011 she was committed to Napa State Hospital.

With proper treatment and antipsychotic medication, Christina stabilized. She spent several years receiving treatment and was released in 2016 into a conditional release program. Since leaving the hospital, Christina has made a remarkable recovery. She completed a master’s degree in clinical counseling and has worked full-time in a mental health facility for the past four years. She takes her medication consistently and continues to see a psychiatrist regularly. Christina has not experienced another psychotic episode since the tragedy. Today, she understands her illness and remains deeply committed to maintaining her stability and living a healthy, productive life.

While Christina has a second chance at life because she finally received treatment, our family was forever changed. Mental illness fractured relationships and left deep grief in its wake.

Christina’s story is a painful reminder that when severe mental illness goes untreated, the consequences can be devastating for individuals, families, and communities.

But it also shows something equally important: treatment works.

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Christina’s story also reflects the enormous financial cost of failing to treat severe mental illness early. The police investigation, court proceedings, incarceration while awaiting placement, years of treatment at Napa State Hospital, and ongoing supervision through California’s conditional release program likely cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. A single year at a state psychiatric hospital like Napa can exceed $300,000 per patient, and the costs of investigation, prosecution, jail time, and long-term legal supervision add significantly more. 

In contrast, early diagnosis, consistent outpatient treatment, and coordinated care would have cost a fraction of that amount—and could have prevented an unimaginable tragedy. Christina’s story is a powerful reminder that timely treatment not only saves taxpayer dollars, it also saves lives and families.