14 DAY TRIAL // 18-year-old Kayley Howson from East Lancashire, in the UK, was found hanging in her home, after years of depression, anxiety and self-harm.
According to the Lancashire Telegraph, an investigation into the girl's tragedy was just started, four years after the fact.
The college student was found in March 2008, at the top of the stairs in the house where she lived with her parents, in Rosehill Road. Her struggle had started right after the acquittal of the man she had accused of rape, four years before.
Kayley's mother, Janet Mitchell, explains that her daughter was a healthy and happy teenager before the incident of abuse ruined her life.
“She had no problems until the age of 14 and the allegation of sexual assault. She took the acquittal very, very hard. That really affected her and she started to self-harm,” she says.
After the rape, the girl sought treatment for depression at the Lancashire Care NHS Trust. As she went through a trial that took three long years, the girl's condition worsened, the Daily Mail writes.
“Giving evidence was hard for her. Kayley started self-harming after revealing what had allegedly happened. She was a completely different person from before, overcome with waves of depression,” mother Janet says.
As the girl saw her rapist go free because of lack of evidence, she started taking antidepressants and overdosed on painkillers 12 times.
Her psychiatrist prescribed the controversial drug Depakote, commonly used for treatment for epilepsy, but often prescribed improperly for schizophrenia and autism. Nine days before taking her own life, the girl had stopped taking Depakote, abruptly quitting at her doctor's suggestion.
The teenager's mother noticed changes in her behavior right away.
“It was immediately noticeable there was a change in her. Her mood swings became worse,” Mrs. Mitchell stated.
Kayley had chronicled her suicidal thoughts in a diary before the event, but the entries remain private.