More details have emerged in the murder of a nine-year-old San Francisco boy, allegedly by his father.
Pierce O’Loughlin, 9, and his father Stephen O'Loughlin, 49, were found dead in the Marina District on Wednesday, San Francisco police said. Officers arrived at the 3800 block of Scott Street for a well-being check in the late afternoon and discovered both individuals deceased. Police are investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported the check was requested by Pierce's mother, Lesley Hu, who divorced O'Loughlin in 2016. Of late, Hu was in the midst of a legal battle with Stephen O'Loughlin over Pierce's health care. Lorie Nachlis, an attorney for Hu, said Stephen O'Loughlin's untreated mental illness manifested partly in a paranoia about vaccinations and an general obsession with Pierce's health.
"I think it is undeniable that Pierce’s father suffered from untreated mental illness which resulted in his taking the life of his son and his own life," Nachlis said in a statement.
"Pierce wasn’t killed because of a disagreement over a stuffy nose, and he wasn’t killed over a disagreement regarding vaccinations," Nachlis told KRON. "He was killed for more complex reasons."
The Chronicle reports court filings from September 2020 show Hu's increasing concern about O'Loughlin's obsession with Pierce's health. According to one filing, Hu said O'Loughlin joined a "new-age, self-help group" in 2012 and became convinced the government was using mind-control on civilians.
"(O’Loughlin’s) stance on vaccinations has taken on a cult-like tone," the Chronicle reports Hu wrote.
Hu was reportedly trying to get Pierce vaccinated, over the objections of his father, and the pair had a future court date over the dispute.
"He punished Leslie with the ultimate act of violence, killing her child, and she will suffer as I believe was intended for the rest of her life," Nachlis told KRON.
Source: SFGATE
Follow Me
}
Comments