NEED TO KNOW
- Lauren Ingrid Flanigan, the Australian woman accused of fatally stabbing her 3-year-old daughter on May 26, has died
- The 32-year-old was found unresponsive in her jail cell on Friday, May 30, and died in a local hospital on Sunday, June 1
- An investigation into the incident is currently underway
Lauren Ingrid Flanigan, the Australian woman accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter, has died.
Flanigan, 32, was found unresponsive in her cell at the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre on Friday, May 30, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Officers provided “immediate assistance” before she was transported to the intensive care unit at a local hospital, according to ABC, which cited Queensland police.
Flanigan died on the evening of Sunday, June 1, per the outlet.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Queensland Correctional Service confirmed that an investigation into Flanigan’s death is underway. The organization said they will assist authorities in preparing a report for the coroner, as “is standard practice for all deaths in custody.”
“Support is being offered to the responding officers and their colleagues,” the Queensland Correctional Service added.
Flanigan, a mother of three, was accused of fatally stabbing her eldest daughter, Sophia Rose, in the front yard of their Moore Park Beach home in Central Queensland on Monday, May 26.
Queensland Police Chief Inspector Grant Marcus said authorities received several calls from neighbors, but the child was dead when emergency services found her just before 5 p.m. local time, per 7 News and 9 News.
Flanigan was taken into custody and charged, while a knife that police allege was the murder weapon was also seized, the outlets reported.
“There were two other children at the address at the time, both younger — aged 1 and 2,” Superintendent Brad Inskip said, per News.com.au. “Neither of them was injured in the incident yesterday, and they’re currently being cared for by family members.”
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Inskip told 7 News that there were “multiple attempts” to revive Sophia before she succumbed to her injuries.
“No doubt it was a horrific scene, it’s a terrible, terrible incident for everybody, including the witnesses and the neighbors, including the emergency services police and ambulances who attended and investigators who are doing the ongoing investigation,” Inskip said, per 7 News.
According to Sky News Australia, Flanigan had allegedly posted a number of eerie messages on social media in the days leading up to the fatal stabbing. She allegedly shared a video of a woman with bruises on her arm, captioned, “Remember your pain as it fuels your purpose.”
She allegedly included lyrics from the heavy metal group Disturbed’s song “Prayer,” which say, “Another nightmare about to come true. Will manifest tomorrow. Another love that I’ve taken from you.”
In other posts, Flanigan allegedly referenced training “like it’s war” and being a “warrior of light,” according to News.com.au. She captioned a photo of her children “my divine babies,” while other posts allegedly referenced past trauma.
Read the full article here
