The Texas woman who cut the arms off her baby
The case of Dena Schlosser.
(Trigger warning: This blog contains topics such as mental health, psychosis, infanticide, and self-harm that may not be appropriate for all readers)
To most, the idea of harming a child is unthinkable. But what happens when someone believes that hurting their kid is the ‘right thing’ to do? In the case of Dena Schlosser, we see how a combination of toxic religion and mental illness can lead to unthinkable actions.
Schlosser’s life before the murder
Dena was born in 1969 and grew up in Texas. At the early age of eight, she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is a condition where cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the brain. It causes massive amounts of pressure in the skull and can result in headaches, double vision, poor balance, and mental impairment. Sometimes in babies, it can result in an increase in head size. She had eight surgeries before she turned thirteen. The surgeries were on her brain, heart, and abdomen.
She had met her husband, John, while in college. She was able to graduate with a bachelor's in psychology but John never finished his degree after skipping so many classes. The couple was married after college and had two beautiful daughters. Dena stayed at home with the girls…
