Eight years ago, a woman named Dena Schlosser killed her baby daughter during what has been called a religious frenzy. Declared insane by the courts, she was sent to a mental institution in 2006. Since June, she's been working at a Texas Wal-Mart. That is until the public got her fired.
Because nothing sounds safer than having a woman recently released from a court-ordered mental institution than having her swinging in the breeze with no job, right? I have to wonder if the people in Terell, Texas thought any of this through.
It seems someone spotted Dena Schlosser, who now goes by the name Dena Laettner, working the checkout line at their local Wal-Mart. They snapped a picture, and it went viral. And after the hew and cry from the community, the woman lost her job.
I won't exactly fault Wal-Mart on this one ... much. People were telling them they were afraid to enter their store because of fear. The question is whether their fear is valid.
According to the cops, Laettner literally cut her 10-month-old's arms off in 2004, later telling a police dispatcher that God told her to. She was later diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, which is what prompted the insanity defense.
It's an unthinkable horror. I don't excuse or sanction it. I can understand why people were horrified to see her out and about and wouldn't want to associate with her.
And yet, legally, Laettner got off. She was not guilty by reason of insanity. What's more, she actually served her time, as ordered by the court. She had remained in the mental institution from 2006 to 2008, when she was released into an outpatient program and allowed to work. Laettner went back into the hospital in 2010 for more treatment.
But now the courts say Dena Laettner isn't a threat to society. She's got a legal right to be out and about and to work at Wal-Mart or any other place willing to hire her. In fact, if she doesn't work, I'm imagining she ends up needing public assistance, making her a burden on the system. Not to mention she has a lot of time to sit around, thinking ...
Is it so wrong for this woman to work? Hasn't she served her time? When does the punishment end?
Image via walknboston/Flickr
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
This Hot Dad Cooks AND Does the Dishes
Kanye West is Gay?! 
Comments 56
She did not serve her time. She basically got away with a heinous crime. She might have been insane but there should be some provison in the law that would allow for some confinement after treatment. She should not be unleashed on society. I don't think she woudl have many opportunities to grab a child or anything like that in Wal-mart but it seems like such a great injustice that she should be roaming around free to be in Wal-mart after commitng such an awful crime such a short time ago.
Cut the arms off a baby, get two years. Sell a joint, get five. American justice.
She should of have her hands cut off like she did to her daugther.
Whoah!! I don't even know what the heck to say about this!! (from Wikipedia...)
Coincidentally, she was a roommate of andrea Yates, the Houston, Texas woman who had drowned her five children in a bathtub, which she says was done to protect them from Satan.
Ugh, I don't think this woman should have a job in a public place, especially if people are uncomfortable. She is a murder, she may be a crazy murder, but she still killed her baby and I personally don't think that is ever forgivable even with a minor two years of help. Its sad that people in a car accident can be charged with accidental manslaughter, which will always be on their record and affect them, but this woman wasn't charged with murder.
If she lied in any way shape or form on her aplication she can legally be fired. You said she goes by a different name? Most aplications have a spot for previously used names. If she was asked and failed to provide that info, its perfectly fine to fire her.
While I understand how this could be viewed as unfair towards her, I think it is less an issue of punishment and more so a business decission. People in customer service related jobs are often fired if they make customers feel uncomfortable and cause the business losses.