Mother who killed her baby in 1987 wants status restored to 'sane'

A mother who claimed she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her 43-day-old son in 1987 was in Orange County court Wednesday to try to have her mental status changed so she can be released from medical supervision.

Sheryle Lynn Massip, 46, now remarried and known as Sheryle Lynn Smith, was convicted by a jury in 1988 for the murder of her infant son, Michael. The conviction was subsequently set aside by a judge, who determined she was not guilty by reason of insanity.

Prosecutors said Massip had brutally murdered her infant son on her 23rd birthday by first throwing him in front of a coming car. When the car didn’t hit the baby, she took him home and bludgeoned him with a blunt object.

When the baby still did not die, she drove him to a remote residential area in Fullerton, placed him under the front tire of her car and drove over his head.

Massip then picked up the crushed baby’s body, wrapped him in a blanket and dumped him in a trash can, prosecutors said. When her husband came home, she told him the baby had been kidnapped at gunpoint by an African American woman.

Police immediately began a search. But when they confronted Massip with inconsistencies in her story, she confessed to the murder.

Now Massip is hoping to convince a jury she no longer poses a danger to the health and safety of others as a result of her mental illness. If Massip's mental health status were changed from insane to sane, she would no longer have to continue outpatient psychiatric treatment.

The Orange County district attorney’s office argues her continued supervision and treatment is necessary to ensure the safety of the public.

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-- Ching-Ching Ni

Comments

[Miss Grammer]

It's not a coming car, it's an on-coming car.

[LiChDom]

Holy cow. For being insane, this murder was well thought out with reasoning and contingency plans. This woman should be under court care the rest of her life. If she was declared incompetent, this must be because of a brain chemical imbalance and could happen again. I'm sick of women using post-partem depression for some of the most despicable acts known to mankind. I've had 2 children and have had plenty in my life to be depressed about, but not once would I have ever thought to do one of the things this woman did to her poor angel.

[Mel]

Insanity NEVER goes away, but itl will hibernate.
It would be fair to let this woman go with a possiblity she can flip her switch.
supervision should continue.

[Anti-illegal college student]

So if she is found to be "sane", then she BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING FOUND GUILTY ORIGINALLY I would hope@

[Martin Romero]

She is a MONSTER!!!
I am a father of three and this story brought tears to my eyes..
How can a human being do that to their own blood. She is sane alright. She should be killed in the same way she killed her baby.
MONSTER!!!!
I cant believe she found a man that would want to be with her.

[Richard]

Leave that crazy, murdering witch under supervision. It's a shame she couldn't be locked up for the rest of her murdering life!

[A.]

I agree with the Orange County D.A. She needs to continue her outpatient therapy. I think many people would benefit from ongoing outpatient psychiatric treatment--especially someone who has killed a baby by running over it with a car.

[Sabrina]

Sane or insane, what she did was still messed up and her butt should be in the jail!

[Scott]

She should have gotten the death penalty, and after 23 years, been put out of existence. What she did to that poor baby is absolutely shocking.

[Angeles]

She is a cold blooded murderer who should have not been found insane but find sane and should have been sentence to sterilization and life in prison!! She shouldn't be set free. This woman is a disgusting scum, she knew what she was doing!

I think they should find her sane and put her in prison for the remaining of her life, let her contemplate the nightmare should put that baby through. The father of the baby should have a say in this.

Its beyond comprehension.

[Adam]

Postpartum depression is a real illness that is far worse then the baby blues or mild depression. Chances are this lady would never harm anyone again. However continued care seems to be appropriate. I don't know why everyone on here wants her to be put to death or locked up forever. The insanity rules in law are their for a reason. If one does not no the difference between wrong and right at the time of a crime they can't be held liable. This goes all the way back to biblical law so all you rightwing nutjobs should remember that. It was horrible what happened but the judge was correct in his opinion and we do not know the actual facts of the case.

[FJ]

Our legal system is out of control. Rather than punish dangerous evil people, we acquit them, we coddle them, we pay them millions of dollars, and they end up on the streets committing even more crimes.

This woman should have been executed long ago. Almost all murderers are crazy in one way or another. We can't use insanity as a defense.

[Mike]

"It's not a coming car, it's an on-coming car."

Posted by: Miss Grammer

---------

It's grammar, not grammer. Just saying.

[xxv]

It's amazing why it's even being considred. This woman should have been kept away for life. Death row. Why didn't she just give the baby up for adoption?

[Andie]

OMG!! how could a woman do this to her own baby? she planned his murder, he must have gotten in the way of her partying!!! she needs the death penalty. she should not be allowed back in society!! how could any man want to be with her!! sure hope he doesnt have any kids and they dont have any together!! shes disgusting!!

[Marlena]

If she is now sane shouldn't she be put on trial for this hennous, vicious, crime?? What kind of monster sane or not could possible torture a helpless infant over and over again, to actually strike a baby in the head with bat or whatever she used to "bludgeoned" him with and then to run over the baby's head - weirdo freak, should be never be allowed to roam about in society. And what kind perverse male could possibly want to bed this weirdo freak??????

How come insane people only commit evil acts? How come they never do anything good????

[lwps]

Imagine the hate that went into that.

[u know]

A newly remarried woman who is still of child bearing age today at 46....yeah sure let her out so she can have a baby with her new husband, don't worry she's sane now.....NOT!!!

[Menua]

wow!!!! w..t..f and that's the 1st time i use cuss words in a blog......I'm freaking speechless !! that's something that comes out in a movie...i cant believe she is still not in jail...oh that's right were talking about the California Penal code..no wonder

[JUSTA HATER]

And she's on the streets....sane or insane this woman should have never seen the light od day.

[sophie]

This is the most awful thing I've read. I don't have any kids, and this is as heinous as a serial killer or a terrorist.

[G'Fab]

WHAT IN THE H#($!!!!!!!!!! SICK AND WRONG!

[Zach]

Wow, comments like most of these make me glad doctors and the justice system mete out consequences, not the angry mob. The conclusions people are jumping to, the obvious ignorance of law and psychology, the gratuitous abuse of punctuation (!!!!), it all makes a guy wonder if people even stop to think anymore.

[Wldhair]

OMG! She should be sorry the rest of her life! How do you get over that? I've suffered horrible depression, I mean to the point where I didn't want to live, I've had thoughts of harming my family, but I refused to listen to the voices that tell me to do these things! I love my children and I'd throw myself in front of a car before I'd ever hurt them. I had horrible thoughts after the birth of my first child, but I wouldn't hurt her. Postpartum depression is very real, but there's always that knowing that we are responsible for our own actions. That when those thoughts come in our head, that just like with real people, we have a choice not to listen to what they say, to ignore the urges. We've become a society where we think everything can be explained away by a disorder or illness. Well I have that illness, I live with it every day, but I fight it and accept that that's what I have to do. Just like some people have to live with cancer, Parkinson's Disease and other terrible maladies, there's plenty of help for depression without simply allowing yourself to give in to the demons that ride you. If you're weak, then you just have take accept the responsibility for your actions. And if this lady was truly sorry, she'd accept the title of "insane" for the rest of her life.

[ustimes]

crazy like a fox. She's cunning, manipulative, ruthless...and tenancious. She made several attempts to kill that baby and now she'll make several attempts to redeem herself.