STAMFORD, Conn./WASHINGTON - The woman who engaged police in a dramatic car chase through the streets of Washington, prompting a lockdown of the US Capitol before officers shot her dead, suffered from post-partum depression, her sisters told CNN on Friday, while questioning why she had to die.
Miriam Carey, 34, had her one-year-old baby in the car with her on Thursday when she tried to drive her black Infiniti coupe through a barrier near the White House, then sped away toward Capitol Hill, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended when her car got stuck on a median and police shot her.
Investigators probing the incident are focusing on whether Carey had mental problems that triggered her actions, said a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Carey was diagnosed with post-partum depression a few months after the birth of her baby, her sister, Amy Carey-Jones, told CNN host Anderson Cooper on Friday evening.
"My sister did experience post-partum depression, with psychosis, they labeled it," Carey-Jones said, echoing comments reported earlier by ABC News which quoted Carey's mother as saying her daughter had post-partum depression and had been hospitalized as a result.
Carey-Jones, who said she spoke often to her sister, disputed reports suggesting that her sister might have suffered from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
