Woman who shot sons was released from mental health facility

LANCASTER, Wis. (AP) - A woman who authorities say shot her two sons and herself this month in Montfort had just been released a day earlier from a state mental health facility, sheriff's officials said. The mother and one boy have died, while the second boy is in critical condition.

Morgan Slaight, 27, had been taken to Winnebago Mental Health Institute on Dec. 22 after somebody called the sheriff's office to say she was making suicidal threats and was seeking help, Captain Anthony Sheckles told the Wisconsin State Journal (http://bit.ly/1CA4RJU).

Slaight made no comments about harming anyone other than herself at that time, Sheckles said. Slaight was released from Winnebago on Jan. 1, Grant County Sheriff Nate Dreckman said. The shootings occurred Jan. 2.

"This is not an uncommon thing for us to place somebody in emergency detention," Dreckman said. "A lot of times, they are there and getting help and once the mental health professionals decide they are OK and are able to go back home, they are sent home."

Dreckman said Friday that the deaths of Slaight and her 8-year-old son, Jaxon, have been ruled a murder-suicide. Jaxon was found dead, and Slaight died Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. Six-year-old Joseph was in critical condition Friday at UW Hospital but is showing signs of improvement, Dreckman said. A third son, a 2-year-old, was living with relatives elsewhere at the time, Dreckman said.

Sheckles referred questions about Slaight's release to Winnebago mental health officials. State Department of Health Services spokeswoman Jennifer Miller said she couldn't comment due to federal confidentiality laws.

Slaight, a recovering methamphetamine addict who grew up in the Dodgeville area, moved with her sons from the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area to Edmund in Iowa County six months ago after she separated from her husband. She moved again to Montfort to live with her sister and brother-in-law, sheriff's Detective Craig Reukauf said.

Slaight's family members said she had appeared to be in a good mood on the day of the shooting, Sheckles said. He said the shootings occurred during about a 3-hour period when other family members were away.

Slaight had been making progress in her addiction recovery, Sheckles said, adding she did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs at the time of the shootings other than what had been prescribed for her.

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Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, http://www.madison.com/wsj