Christine Allen, 30, of Las Vegas, appears in court at the Regional Justice Center Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Allen told police that she drowned her 3-year-old son because of voices in her head, according to a Metro Police arrest report.
Published Wednesday, March 12, 2014 | 8:57 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, March 12, 2014 | 1:45 p.m.
A defense attorney says the Las Vegas mother accused of drowning her 3-year-old son in a bathtub will probably plead not guilty by reason of insanity to a murder charge.
Andrea Luem, a Clark County public defender, said today she planned to seek a psychiatric evaluation for 30-year-old Christine Tracy Allen before a June 17 preliminary hearing.
Allen, who made her first appearance in court today on the murder charge, told detectives she killed her son because of voices in her head, according to a Metro Police arrest report.
Allen said she was depressed Saturday when she asked her son, Noah Lane Allen, who was taking a bath, if he wanted to go swimming, according to the arrest report.
From that moment, it “was like a demon inside of me took over,” Allen told police, according to the report.
When Allen started to hold Noah's head under the water in the tub, the boy struggled and told his mother he didn’t want to go swimming, according to the report.
Allen told police she suffered from depression, was divorced and was being evicted from her apartment.
She reportedly told Metro homicide detectives she felt drowning her son was all she could do because of the voices in her head.
She said she thought Noah would be better off with God rather than part of a split family, the report said.
Allen remains in Clark County Detention Center without bail.
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