Christopher Pittman
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Christopher Pittman (born April 9, 1989 in Huntsville, Alabama) was convicted in 2005 of murdering his grandparents at age 12. The case drew national attention in part because of his age at the time of the crime and in part because his defense that the prescription drug Zoloft caused him to act.
At age twelve Pittman was put on Paxil for mild depression. This depression escalated when he threatened suicide in front of his sister. His father sent him away from their home in Oxford, Florida to live with his grandparents in Chester, South Carolina where he frequently visited. His paternal grandparents had been a source of stability to him for years in a life with a mother who had run out on him twice and a father who was frequently abusive.
Paxil was not available in Chester, and a doctor gave him samples of Zoloft instead, in effect forcing Pittman to go off of Paxil cold turkey. Almost immediately Pittman allegedly began to experience negative side-effects from the new medication; his sister went so far as to describe him as “manic.” He purportedly experienced a burning sensation all over his body which required pain medication.
When he complained about the side effects of the drug, the doctor upped his dosage to 200 MG, when the pills suggested dosage is only 25 MG. [1]. On November 1st Pittman had an argument on the school bus, choked a fellow student, and later disrupted the person playing piano in his church. That night, after receiving a paddling from his grandfather, Pittman went into his grandparent's bedroom and murdered them with their own shotgun which he had been taught how to use. After the murder he set fire to the house using a candle and papers.
Pittman took his grandparents car, guns, his dog and $33 and ran off. He was picked up after getting stuck two counties away. Before confessing, he told a story of a large black male who kidnapped him after killing his grandparents and setting fire to their house. When he ultimately confessed he proclaimed that his grandparents deserved what they got. He later claimed that he was under the effect of the over dosage of Zoloft. Pittman claimed Zoloft caused Command Hallucinations, a voice telling him to murder his grandparents, and that it was almost like a dream or a television show he was watching but couldn’t stop. [2]
Zoloft has several side-effects, including, notably, depression, amnesia, abnormal dreams, paranoid reaction, hallucination, aggressive reaction, aggravated depression, and delusions. Initial dosage for adults should be 50mg. once daily for major depressive disorder. Dosage for children and adolescents should be 25 mg. daily. Risks from over dosage include potential "manic reactions."
For two days prior to the shooting, Pittman had been overdosing severely on Zoloft, as well as suffering from his withdrawal symptoms from Paxil. While being shifted around from facility to facility for the next three years he had an incident where, still suffering from mania, a psychiatrist claims he made several racial slurs against a prison guard very early on in his imprisonment. There is also evidence that Pittman may have had some problems before he went on Paxil, most was waved off by the defense as a boy being a boy or denied outright.
On Monday, January 31st 2005, three years later, his trial as an adult began. On February 15th 2005 Pittman was convicted of murder, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. There was some controversy about the verdict, as two of the jurors admitted feeling coerced into their decision and another juror openly discussed the trial with his wife and bartender during deliberations. [3]
On October 5th, 2006 the South Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments on his appeal. [4] A petition to Pardon Pittman was also presented at that time. The Justices were also asked to hold off on moving Pittman to the adult penitentiary, but the delay was denied.
[edit] External links
- Freedom for Christopher Pittman Forums- Information on his case and similar ones.
