Julianne McCrery, mother of Camden Pierce Hughes, suicidal after boy's body found in Maine, says lawyer
(CBS/WBZ) SOUTH BERWICK, Maine - Texas mother Julianne McCrery is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in connection with the murder of her 6-year-old son Camden Pierce Hughes in New Hampshire.
Pictures: Body of mystery Maine boy identified
Her attorney said Thursday that McCrery is suicidal and wants to "be in heaven with her son."
McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, was arrested in Massachusetts Wednesday night on a fugitive of justice charge. That charge stems from a warrant New Hampshire police issued charging McCrery with second-degree murder in the death of Camden on May 14.
Camden's body was found Saturday evening along a road in South Berwick, Maine. A nationwide search was launched to ascertain his identity.
Stephen Scipione of Leominster spotted McCrery at a rest stop off I-495 in Chelmsford Wednesday morning and called 911. State police arrived and took her into custody at the barracks in Concord. Sources told CBS station WBZ that McCrery admitted to killing her son.
She was examined at Emerson Hospital and brought back to the Concord barracks, where she remained Thursday morning.
Her attorney told reporters Thursday that McCrery was crying and suicidal.
"She wanted to be in heaven with her son," attorney George Murphy said. "She kept saying it over and over again - I want to die."
Murphy said she did not admit to him she killed her boy, even though police told him she "confessed to this in detail."
McCrery is due to be arraigned in Concord District Court.
An autopsy performed in Maine determined her son died of asphyxiation. It was ruled a homicide.
Sources told WBZ-TV that McCrery said she gave her son an overdose of cough syrup that resulted in his death.
