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A warrant was issued for York’s arrest after she was charged in connection to the Dec. 12 incident.
York turned herself in at the Wayne County Jail Tuesday afternoon and remains booked in the jail, according to online jail records.
York was charged with one count of dangerous control of a child, four counts of neglect of a dependent and one count of criminal recklessness.
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PREVIOUS REPORT (Oct. 14):
Indiana prosecutors have filed six felony charges against the mother of a Richmond teen who took guns to a school in December and killed himself.
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The allegations in an investigator’s affidavit reveal new details about the 14-year-old boy’s five-year struggle with depression, suicidal and homicidal thoughts, and his family’s difficulty in getting him proper mental health care.
Investigators say Brandon Clegg videotaped himself on Dec. 12 saying he was going to kill people at Dennis Middle School the next day. The videos reportedly show him breaking the lock of a gun cabinet and retrieving multiple firearms when his mom and her partner weren’t home.
Mary York called police on Dec. 13 to report that her son took her longtime partner by gunpoint and forced him to drive to the school. She told police her son intended to kill students and himself. Inside the school, Clegg shot at police before he died by suicide. No one else was harmed.
York, 43, is charged with one count of dangerous control of a child, four counts of neglect of a dependent and one count of criminal recklessness. It’s unclear if she’s represented by an attorney.
Investigators allege York took Clegg out of hospital treatment after 10 days in May 2018 “because her insurance would not cover the cost of treatment and she could not afford it,” even though the boy said during intake he “wanted to go to the school and kill the kids that bullied him.”
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York told investigators “that she knew nothing about his mental health diagnosis or what was said during his intake evaluation,” though staff at the hospital told investigators they met with York on several occasions and spoke to her by phone.
“Many entries in the phone records read that York wanted to take Clegg out of treatment against medical advice because of insurance issues,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit also says York “did not make him take” medication he was prescribed.
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Investigators allege York failed to prevent Clegg from accessing weapons in the house, and he had once fired a weapon inside the home in October 2018. They also allege Clegg was often unsupervised because of York’s work schedule, which included rotating shifts of days, afternoons and nights.
Authorities cited several TV appearances by York in which she said her son wasn’t violent, most recently on a September airing of “True Crime.”
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Researchers say there are some factors that would-be or actual mass shooters usually have in common. Adam Lankford, a University of Alabama criminologist, said three of these are: suicidal motives and an indifference to life, perceived victimization, and desires for attention and fame.
“Not surprisingly, many who choose this path have suicidal motives and actively want to die, or are ‘life indifferent’ and do not care about their self-preservation, survival, or future,” Lankford wrote. “These are typically human beings in turmoil — which means they exhibit certain predictable tendencies and warning signs.”
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255.
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