A Massachusetts courtroom awaits a verdict this week in a case that has quietly reshaped conversation across a major social media platform, where an unrelated trend now finds itself linked to the trial’s outcome.
Jurors resumed deliberations Thursday in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, 36, marking the sixth consecutive day without a decision.
Clancy stands accused of killing her three children in January 2023: 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree on one central fact — Clancy caused the deaths of her children.
The dispute centers instead on whether she can be held criminally responsible, given her mental state at the time.
Defense attorneys have built their case around claims of severe postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, arguing these conditions impaired Clancy’s ability to understand or control her actions during the killings.
Postpartum psychosis is classified by medical professionals as a rare but serious condition that can produce delusions, hallucinations, and significant breaks from reality following childbirth.
It has featured prominently in testimony throughout the trial.
While jurors weighed the evidence behind closed doors, a separate development unfolded publicly across TikTok.
A growing number of videos began appearing in which mothers filmed themselves holding their children before switching to footage of themselves holding a doll.
In the videos, users act out harming the doll as a substitute for the child shown moments earlier. The clips are typically brief and set to captions referencing mental health struggles tied to new motherhood.
Two captions have appeared repeatedly across the videos: “Postpartum anxiety got me like…” and “Postpartum anxiety be like…”
The Daily Citizen, a publication affiliated with Focus on the Family, reported on the emerging trend and connected it directly to public reaction surrounding the Clancy case.
According to that reporting, Clancy has not contested that she killed her children.
Her defense rests entirely on the argument that her mental state at the time should shield her from criminal accountability.
The online trend has drawn comparisons to public reaction in other closely watched criminal cases.
One frequently cited example is the trial of Karmelo Anthony, 19, convicted in the April 2025 stabbing death of fellow high school student Austin Metcalf.
A second case often mentioned alongside it involves Luigi Mangione, 28, charged in the December 2024 shooting death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson.
Both cases generated significant public commentary and expressions of sympathy toward the accused.
Observers have noted a distinction in the Clancy case: the online response has not remained limited to expressions of support for the defendant.
Instead, participants in the TikTok trend have actively reenacted elements of the underlying conduct itself, using motherhood as the connecting theme.
Critics of the trend argue that simulating harm to children, even through a doll and even framed as commentary on mental health struggles, crosses a line beyond typical trial-related commentary seen in past high-profile cases.
Some commentators responding to the trend have suggested that spouses who view the videos take immediate steps to check on the safety of their own children.
Others have suggested that welfare checks by child protective agencies may be warranted in cases involving participants who live alone.
The trend has unfolded against a broader public conversation about how postpartum mental health conditions are discussed, portrayed, and understood online, particularly as they intersect with a high-profile criminal trial still awaiting resolution.
No timeline has been released for when the jury is expected to reach a verdict. Deliberations were ongoing as of Thursday, with courtroom observers and online audiences alike awaiting the outcome.
The case continues to draw national attention, both for its legal implications and for the unusual social media response it has generated in the days leading up to a verdict.
