Woman Who Killed Mom In Murder-Suicide Had Brain-Altering Tumor: Coroner

A 61-year-old who shot her mother and then herself was suffering from a cancerous tumor that was determined brain-altering by a coroner.
Pearl River County coroner Derek Turnage said that Helena Malone stopped cancer treatment for a brain tumor in June, but that since then her family had noticed a change in Malone’s demeanor, local outlet wlox.com reported.
Turnage said he “felt certain” the untreated tumor was likely to have been the root of her violence, which “stemmed” from a “medical condition” that “affected her brain,” adding: “Cancer is a terrible disease.”
Malone killed 79-year-old Helen Plaisance while inside a car, just before 3 p.m. on Thursday near the emergency department drop-off at Highland Community Hospital in Picayune, Mississippi, wlox.com reported.
Malone had called the Picayune police for help, but killed herself before the cops arrived. Both women were taken into the emergency room, but neither could be saved.
Picayune Police Chief Joe Quave corroborated the details of the shooting with Newsweek and added: “Please pray for the family, Highland Community Hospital staff and officers as they investigate this situation.”
It was reported that Malone’s mother had driven her to the hospital, but for what reason remains unclear.
The coroner also shared that Plaisance was also suffering from an unspecified medical condition that required constant care.
“It was a very difficult struggle for them,” the coroner added as he explained how the mother and daughter were acting as each other’s caregivers.
The Brain Tumor Charity’s website explains that brain tumors can result in a number of personality changes in the suffering individual, including irritability, aggression, confusion, forgetfulness, apathy, depression, anxiety, mood swings, extreme moods and a loss of inhibitions or restraints resulting in socially and culturally inappropriate behavior.
A brain tumor can cause a change in personality traits as the swelling might put pressure on a surrounding area of the brain, altering its function, the charity’s website details.
If the tumor is in a person’s frontal lobe, where most of a person’s personality-defining brain activity occurs, this makes personality changes common. It is also the case that brain tumors in that part of the brain will affect the sufferer’s ability to regulate their behavior and restrain themselves.
Leaving a brain untreated can have life-threatening consequences, as well as worsening any personality alterations the sufferer might be experiencing, the blog site Resto NYC reported.
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