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Update: Woman shot children, herself day after being released from state mental health facility

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI) - 1/16/2015

Jan. 16--LANCASTER -- The woman who shot her two sons and herself in the head two weeks ago in Montfort had been released one day earlier from a mental health facility after she was taken there for an emergency commitment for making suicidal threats, law enforcement officials said Friday.

The deaths of Morgan Slaight, 27, and her son, Jaxon, 8, were ruled a murder-suicide by the Grant County coroner and Sheriff's Office, sheriff Nate Dreckman said Friday.

Slaight, a recovering methamphetamine addict, used a .22 caliber pistol to shoot Jaxon and another son, Joseph, 6, and then herself at her sister's home on 305 E. Main St., on Jan. 2. Jaxon was found dead at the scene while Slaight died Tuesday at UW Hospital. Joseph remains in critical condition at UW Hospital but is showing signs of improvement, Dreckman said.

A third son, Charlie, 2, was with relatives at the time the shooting occurred, Dreckman said.

Slaight was taken to Winnebago Mental Health Institute on Dec. 22 after somebody called the Sheriff's Office to say Slaight was making suicidal threats and was seeking help, said Capt. Anthony Sheckles, who led the investigation.

The decision for the emergency commitment was made by officials at Unified Community Services, which serves Grant and Iowa counties, Dreckman added.

Slaight made no comments about harming anyone other than herself prior to the commitment, Sheckles said.

After separating from her husband, Tyler, Slaight and her sons moved from Tulsa to Edmund in Iowa County six months ago before moving to Montfort to live with her sister and brother-in-law, Rana and Ron Corkum, sheriff's Detective Craig Reukauf said. She grew up in the Dodgeville area.

Slaight was released from Winnebago on Jan. 1 without any notice to authorities, Dreckman said.

"This is not an uncommon thing for us to place somebody in emergency detention. It's a fairly regular task that we do. A lot of times, they are there and getting help and once the mental health professionals decide they are OK and are able to go back home, they are sent home," Dreckman added.

Sheckles referred any comments on why Slaight was sent home to Winnebago mental health officials. Winnebago referred comments to state Department of Health Services spokesman Jason Fischer, who did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The day of the shooting, Slaight's family members said she appeared to be in a good mood, Sheckles said. The shooting occurred sometime after she had some paperwork notarized and sent to her attorney in Tulsa. The paperwork regarded a car crash she was involved in Tulsa before she moved to Wisconsin, Dreckman said.

The shootings occurred during a 2 hour, 45 minute window in the afternoon when the Corkums were away from their home, Sheckles said. Slaight used a gun owned by her brother-in-law, Ron Corkum, to shoot Jaxon twice, Joseph once near the temple and herself once in an area behind her ear, Detective Rick Place said.

It appeared that Slaight was not under the influence of any drugs other than what had been prescribed for her at the time of the shootings, Sheckles said.

Slaight had been making progress from her recovery as a methamphetamine addict, Sheckles said. She and her husband lost custody of their children in 2012 as they sought treatment for their addictions and did not get them back until August 2013.

After giving birth to Charlie that January, Slaight was arrested and sent to jail two months later for possession of a stolen vehicle. She pleaded guilty that July and was given a 10-year deferred sentence, ordered to do 100 hours of community service and pay a $7,139 fine, according to online court documents.

Slaight went into treatment for her meth addiction shortly after her release from jail, and she got custody of her boys back after she finished treatment.

Online court documents showed that she completed her 100 hours of community service, and the Tulsa World newspaper wrote a story about Morgan and Tyler and their children moving into a refurbished home provided to them by a local church.

"Either way you look at it, it's a tragedy," Dreckman said.

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