Kentucky mom Tiffanie Lucas to use insanity defense at trial as she faces murder charges for shooting deaths of her two young sons
A Kentucky woman charged with fatally shooting her two young sons plans to use an insanity defense at trial, court documents revealed.
A Kentucky woman charged with fatally shooting her two young sons plans to use an insanity defense at trial, court documents revealed.
Tiffanie Lucas, 32, is accused of shooting her sons Maurice Baker Jr., 6 - affectionately known as Peanut - and his half-brother Jayden Howard, 9, inside their Shepherdsville home in November 2023.
Police said the mother initially claimed the shooting was an accident and that she was manipulated into doing it.
A motion filed in Bullitt Circuit Court on September 11 obtained by People said a defense attorney for Lucas plans to assert a defense of insanity at the time of the alleged offense.
[The defense intends] to introduce at trial expert evidence relating to a mental disease, mental defect, or other mental condition bearing in the issue of guilt and the issue of punishment, the filing said.
Tiffanie Lucas (pictured), 32, intends to plea insanity at trial over the November 2023 shooting of her two young sons
Maurice Baker Jr. (right), 6 - affectionately known as Peanut - and his half-brother Jayden Howard (left), 9, were killed inside their Shepherdsville home in November 2023
Lucas is charged with two counts of capital murder and the stepmother to one of two boys has said the family will accept nothing less than the death penalty.
The double shooting occurred on November 8 with the boys bodies discovered when Bullitt County Sheriffs Office received reports of a gunshot injuries at Lucass home in Shepherdsville.
When Lucass neighbor pulled into his driveway, he saw the 32-year-old walking down the stairs of his porch before collapsing.
She told him that her kids were dying. When the neighbor entered her home, he discovered the boys bodies in a bedroom and gun on the bed.
The neighbor then called 911 and stayed with the boys until EMS arrived and rushed them to Nortons Childrens Hospital in Louisville.
They were taken into surgery but ultimately succumbed to their injuries.
Police recovered Ring camera footage from a nearby home on the day of the shooting.
In the video, four shots ring out before Lucas could be seen walking outside and shouting for help.
Lucas told detectives that she left the gun in the bedroom and that someone had given it to her. She admitted that no one else had been to the house that day.
Bullitt County detective Richard Beahl said when questioned by police Lucas said Im in such a bad spot and chalked the shooting up to an accident.
Police said the mother initially claimed the shooting was an accident and that she was manipulated into doing it
The boys bodies were discovered when a neighbor entered their home and found them in a bedroom with a gun on the bed
The stepmother to one of two boys has said the family will accept nothing less than the death penalty for Lucas
I’m so stupid, she added. I would never do anything like this unless someone manipulated me.
Beahl testified that Lucas made statements that she was being manipulated through Facebook, through the internet or through Wi-Fi...into doing what she did.
On Facebook, 32-year-old Lucas posted heavily edited photos of herself and her two boys.
I love my babies everyday of the year, I will always use any excuse to celebrate them and show them how special they are, she wrote on Valentines Day 2022.
In another post, she proclaimed: I love my kings different and that’s why Jayden & Peanut are different types of children. They are GOD SENT & every wrong I have ever done or any hurt I have ever caused I am so focused on correcting and loving them longer and deeper.
She continued: I can not guarantee a lot of things in life BUT I can guarantee the mother I will always be, the love I will always share, and the best I can ever give and do will be PROMISED to you my love, Jayden & Peanut!
