Mother Gets 25 To 50 Years For Murder Of 2-Year-Old Son

A woman with a history of mental health issues was about to be evicted from her Tullytown home late last August when she made a decision which would change her life and those around her forever.

Jennifer Clarey, 43, of Tullytown, loaded her 2-year-old son Mazikeen Curtis with prescription pain medication hydrocodone and diphenhydramine, the common ingredient in Benadryl. Testing by investigators found the boy’s sippy cup had hydrocodone residue in it and an empty 120-pill bottle that was filled only a week prior was found nearby.

On Saturday, August 25, tip calls about Clarey “acting erratically” were reported to Bucks County Children and Youth Services. Children and youth staff arrived to her rental unit at 501 Lovett Avenue in Tullytown and no one answered. Later, police came with children and youth workers, accessing the unit with the landlord’s key.

Inside, Clarey was found on blood-stained sheets with her wrists slashed. A borough officer saw Mazikeen looking unconscious on the bed. The boy was cold to the touch and shortly after pronounced dead.

Clarey was taken to Lower Bucks Hospital for treatment of her injuries and later moved to Friends Hospital in Philadelphia for mental health treatment. She remained at the city facility until she was charged with her son’s death weeks later.

In a Doylestown courtroom on Tuesday morning, Clarey was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in state prison for third-degree murder and related charges as part of a no contest plea before Bucks County Senior Judge Clyde Waite.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Lannetti said that as part of the plea deal, prosecutors would not move forward with seeking the death penalty for the murder of Mazikeen.

Chief Deputy Public Defender Joseph Haag and Clarey outlined the 43-year-old woman’s history of mental health issues. They included major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, which has plagued her since her 20s.

Clarey, who has been unemployed and on disability since a car crash 20 years ago, said that despite her mental health issues, she had been able to take care of herself.

Haag said Clarey had been “under a great deal of stress” leading up to her son’s death.

“There is nothing that will be done here today that will change the issue – the death of a blameless child,” the judge said.

Waite said that Clarey “will have to live with the burden of what she has done.”

“I hope you will use your remaining time on Earth to vindicate your wrongdoing,” he said directly to the woman, who has older children that did not live with her at the time of the boy’s death.

“This can’t be accepted in a civilized society,” the judge said.

Clarey was spotted wiping tears from her face at various points during the her time in court.