More time in mental facility for mother accused of filicide of 3 children

Felicia Chen

Twenty-two year old Felicia Chen, the mother who killed her three children, has been ordered back to a mental facility. She reappeared in court this morning for the April twenty-seventh triple homicide of her children. Dressed in full black and looking frightened and scared, Chen was assigned before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith, who was not in and then escorted to the court of Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer; who reverted her to Magistrate Dale Cayetano before whom she was first arraigned. Within seventeen minutes, her case was adjourned again. While neither her nurse nor her psychiatrist would comment on the matter, the D.P.P. said she need more time in a mental facility. Chen is now being represented by attorney Antoinette Moore, a well known human rights lawyer. Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

Twenty-two year old Felicia Chen killed three of her four children at Belizean Beach on the morning of April twenty-seventh.  Four year old Triana, three year old Thomas the third and one-year-old Trinaya all perished in the sea. Their six year old sibling survived when she ran for help. The mother was detained and subsequently charged with three counts of murder for the filicide. Preliminary indications were that Chen was suffering from Chronic Clinical Depression and was in urgent need of therapy.

Eleanor Bennett

Eleanor Bennett, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner [File: April 30^th, 2013]

“There’s an interface between the mental health services and legal services, as it relates to cases such as these.  We are very clear on what the role of the mental health services are and those roles are pretty much to provide a psychiatric or psychological assessment and to explain what those findings are.  When it comes to determination of things like insanity or unsoundness of mind or fitness to stand trial those are legal terminologies or those are legal responsibilities.”

It’s been fourteen days since and this morning Chen reappeared before Magistrate Cayetano…this time with legal counsel and human rights attorney, Antoinette Moore. She was ordered back for further treatment.  In a statement issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, Chen was remanded for a further period of eight days at the same Mental Health Facility. Duane Moody for News Five.

News Five spoke with relatives off camera who told us that the surviving six year old child has responded well to counseling and has returned to classes.