Camden Mother Beheads Son While High On Angel Dust

Camden Mother Beheads Son While High On Angel Dust

The city of Camden is tonight in a state of shock. How could a mother do this? Police tape stretches around a New Jersey home that police say was the scene of a grisly crime. What police found here on this tree-lined Camden, New Jersey, street—in this home—no horror movie maker could conjure.

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On the evening of Tuesday, August 21st, 2012, 33-year-old Siobhan Thomas and her boyfriend sat upon the steps of their row house located at 1415 Keynes Avenue in Camden, New Jersey. According to neighbor Melanie Troutman, this was a familiar sight. It was a warm evening in Camden, with temperatures reaching a high of 81 degrees. It’s not uncommon to see folks cooling themselves off on porches in the city, and this was the scene on the street lined with brick homes located in the city’s Parkside neighborhood. But Melanie Troutman did notice something that was out of the ordinary: her neighbor, Siobhan, appeared to be topless and was visibly upset. There are conflicting reports, with neighbor Tayari Horsey, who lives a few doors down, insisting that the 33-year-old mother was clothed. However, our story today is not about a woman bearing her chest on her porch; it’s about what happened two hours later.

But first, I think it’s important to give a little backstory here. Siobhan Thomas had a troubled past and recently had been reunified with her two-year-old son, Zari, on April 3rd, 2012. The little boy had been in the custody of family members after a November 2010 incident where his mother, Siobhan, left him unattended in a car while she smoked “fry sticks.” Fry sticks are also known as “wet lovelies,” among many other things, which are street names for cannabis laced with the hallucinogenic drug PCP—which is a word that YouTube heavily polices the use of. So, for the remainder of this episode, I’m going to refer to it as either phencyclidine or what I knew it as growing up: Angel Dust.

After getting high off this, she passed out in a nearby park. For those unfamiliar, Angel Dust was initially produced in 1956 and was marketed as an anesthetic; however, extreme physical and psychological side effects led to the drug being outlawed nine years later in 1965, with use in animals finally banned in 1978. Nowadays, illegal production of Angel Dust is often done in improper conditions, not in a lab environment like it was initially intended for. Because of this, the end product tends to be something far more toxic to the user, and furthermore, the person can easily be unaware of the actual dose they’re taking. The effects of intoxication vary from person to person, especially by dosage. Physically, in low to mid-doses, it can provide feelings of numbness, slurred speech, and a loss of balance. In moderate doses, it should be noted that high doses can cause convulsions.

In media, Angel Dust users are depicted as violent, raging maniacs. While this isn’t a typical reaction, it’s definitely not impossible. However, what is up for debate is the unpredictability of psychological effects that one can experience. Various psychoses and hallucinations have been reported in use, and Angel Dust may induce feelings of invulnerability and strength. A Japanese study concluded in August 2019 that “repeated phencyclidine administration induces several schizophrenia-like psychobehavioral abnormalities.” Basically, this compares the results of a chronic user of Angel Dust to a schizophrenic episode. Keep this in mind as we go further in this story.

Siobhan was charged with endangering the life of her son with regards to the 2010 car incident, but the case was later dropped due to a problem with a witness. However, during this time, she sought court-ordered treatment for substance use and mental health disorders and was ultimately prescribed the drug Prozac, an SSRI used to typically treat depression, among other ailments. After just nine months, state workers with DCF deemed Siobhan a fit mother, and Zari was returned to her care. However, only a month after regaining custody of her son, Siobhan flagged hot for Angel Dust in a court-ordered test. Again, Zari was removed from his mother’s care and placed back with the relative. But once more, Zari stayed with this relative for nine months before ultimately being returned to Siobhan’s care.

This brings us back to the balmy evening in Camden, just four months after Zari was returned to his mother’s care. 911 dispatchers received a disturbing call from the troubled 33-year-old, one they would not soon forget:

“Um, yeah, somebody just said… my baby. Please get here. They just did what she had—my baby.” “You didn’t know who it was, ma’am?” “Yes, it’s my ex. It’s my boyfriend. My current boyfriend, Thomas.” “1415 Keynes Avenue, right?” “Yep, yep. All right, we’ll show somebody up.” “Yeah, you better wait, wait, you know what, I don’t even want to play this. I did it, okay? I did it. I did it. I…” “Nope. Hello?” “I knew it. I mean, what, what the hell? I knew it, you know what? I knew it.” “Knew what?” “I knew it.” “What did you know, Siobhan?” “I know you need to play… No, not ordering, Siobhan. I don’t need nothing. I’m 33.” “You’re 33 years old? What do you think, Madison? Where I used to… what kind? Did you think…” “Oh, okay. You don’t take it anymore?” “Nope.” “Okay, what’s your name?” “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… I do. Did you take it for that? Still take it?” “I still take it… No.”

After hanging up on police dispatchers and realizing the gravity of what she had just done, 33-year-old Siobhan Thomas fatally stabbed herself in the neck with a kitchen knife, putting a grisly end to her troubled life. Further investigations revealed that Siobhan was, yet again, high on Angel Dust at the time of the incident. Some side effects of taking Angel Dust are dangerous hallucinations, aggressive behavior, lack of rational judgment, feeling of no pain, and being willing to harm oneself and others. When the police arrived at Thomas’s house, they found Zari’s headless body on the floor; his head was later discovered in the freezer of the home. Additionally, medical examiners found a stab wound to the chest and marks on the little boy’s arms.

Zari’s violent end was in stark contrast to what neighbors reported seeing earlier that day. Just hours earlier, Siobhan was outside blowing bubbles with her son. Siobhan had just moved to the neighborhood from elsewhere in the city and was already well-liked. No one saw any evidence of problems, and according to neighbor Tayari Horsey, “Because, had we known something was up, I’m quite sure all of the neighbors on the block would have talked to her. But you know, people hold stuff in. You don’t know what’s going on.” Her landlord described the mother as good-natured and stated, “She was a really nice woman for the short amount of time that she lived there. She was never late with her rent, and just a short time ago, my wife was there and my kid played with them.” According to a teen who lived a few doors down, “She used to sit on the step with her son. She really didn’t speak; she just kept to herself. We’d see her out there smoking cigarettes, but we didn’t really know her.”

However, former neighbor Thelma Moore said Siobhan exhibited mental health issues during the several years that she had known her. Moore described her as being in a world all to herself and said Siobhan had been seeing a behavioral health therapist. According to the former neighbor, “She just walked around and talked and cursed to herself.” It is unknown if Siobhan smoked Angel Dust in the presence of any of her neighbors. Angel Dust, if smoked, is noted to smell like permanent marker, but this can change depending on what it’s mixed with, so we cannot say for certain if there were any drug-related red flags that were easily observable to her neighbors.

Counseling services were offered at the nearby Bethel Deliverance Church on Keynes Avenue, with clergy, the mayor’s staff, and city police on hand to help. According to Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd, and this is a direct quote: “My deepest sympathy goes out to the young child, family members, and friends. As the investigation into the circumstances that led to this tragic incident moves forward, we need to remember that all life matters in the city of Camden. We are all family, and we will be here to help through the healing process.”

According to Siobhan’s parents, Wendell and Jerlain Birch, their daughter had been crying out for help and she did not get the care that she needed. They also questioned DCF’s decisions with regards to their grandson, Zari, which included discontinuing daycare for the toddler, leaving the little boy with his mother all day long. Additionally, DCF workers stopped visiting Siobhan, who had a history of drug addiction and had been diagnosed with serious mental illness. DCF Commissioner Allison Blake claims that protection workers could not have prevented Zari’s death, nor could they have known that Siobhan was in distress. However, the grandparents both wondered if the state could have done more to protect both mother and son. Let us know down below if you feel DCF was negligent, if they truly could have prevented this tragic event.

Wendell and Jerlain recounted being the ones who were always there for Zari when he was born premature with numerous medical needs. The grandparents stayed with the little boy in the hospital; they watched him grow, idolizing Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story, reclining in his Lazy Boy for kids with his bag of cereal and his cup of juice. After Siobhan regained custody, the grandparents still cared for the boy while she attended night counseling, and they often had dinner together. Jerlain described her daughter as a good mom who took care of her son, with Wendell adding that she was not the monster that the media was portraying her to be, and added that she loved Zari. The last time Jerlain saw her daughter was the Monday before the incident occurred; all seemed well enough. The following day, Siobhan called her mother, quickly rattling off a list of things she needed to do, repeating phrases, and saying God had spoken to her. Jerlain became concerned her daughter may have suffered a relapse. And according to Louis E. Baxter, the medical director of the Division of Addiction Services for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Siobhan would have indeed had an increased risk of psychosis with relapse.

Many of you remember Dr. Nathan, a friend of the show who’s a clinical pharmacist that treats hospitalized patients daily. We spoke briefly about how Prozac and Angel Dust can interact with each other. To keep it short, Dr. Nathan told me Angel Dust modulates most neurotransmitters, including serotonin. Prozac is an SSRI, which stands for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. Taking too high of a dose of an SSRI alone can cause serotonin syndrome. Now, serotonin syndrome, to put it simply, is an overdose of serotonin. This can cause agitation, insomnia, and confusion, but if the reaction is severe, it can cause a high fever, seizures, and even death. Was it irresponsible for doctors to prescribe Prozac to Siobhan, who was a known Angel Dust addict with a history of relapsing? Let me know in the comments down below. However, what we know about how SSRIs and Angel Dust can potentially interact gives us clues to how this could have played a factor in her final days. In fact, while in common, there are documented cases of SSRIs such as Prozac causing psychosis in some patients. We have several links to medical journals in the show notes if you want to know more in-depth information about the pharmacology.

Angel Dust usage rates have thankfully been declining over the years, but regardless, I’d like to make a plea to people who might consider using it: please reconsider. Not just for your sake, but for your loved ones, especially if you have children in your care. Even if you consider the story of Siobhan Thomas to be an extreme example, please note that even one use of Angel Dust can have unpredictable results, especially when it’s hard to estimate true dosages. I’ve heard countless experiences from people who’ve used Angel Dust—some who I know personally. One user on YouTube whom I watch said what happened to him is that he went into a dreamlike state, and after he woke up from it, he had done multiple bizarre and violent things that were completely uncharacteristic of him to do, and that he could barely remember them. He had to find out from others afterwards. If you become that out of control, what could you end up doing to your kids? If you are currently struggling with addiction and your kids are at risk, please seek help. Zari didn’t have to lose his life, and if you’re a friend, family member, or neighbor and you see red flags—especially as it relates to the safety of a minor—say something. We say this all the time: again and again, if you see something, say something. Artist Brian Lewis Saunders, who experiments with many different drugs with art, was once quoted as saying, “There ain’t no angels on Angel Dust,” and in the case of Siobhan Thomas, he was right.