Miriam Carey: Picture of psyciatric problems emerges

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The woman who led police on a high-speed car chase near the Capitol after ramming her car into a White House entrance gate and injuring two Secret Service agents had stopped taking her psychiatric medication, reports revealed on Friday.

Miriam Carey, 24, died in a hail of bullets after Capitol police, Secret Service and metro police chased her black Infinity from the White House entrance to the spot near the Capitol where her car finally crashed, before police opened fire.

According to WNBC reporter Jon Dienst, interviews with friends and relatives of the former Brooklyn resident, who had worked as a dental hygienist in Connecticut before being fired last August, reveal that Carey had been on anti-depressant drugs and was previously diagnosed with pychosis.

The interviews by police investigators reveal that she had recently been off her medication, which was for both psychosis and postpartum depression.

According to Carey’s former employer, she suffered head and spinal injuries after falling down a flight of stairs in January 2012, just one month before learning that she was pregnant. The child, a girl, was in the car with Carey during the car chase, and was taken to a local hospital and found to be uninjured. Carey’s relatives traveled to Washington D.C. on Friday to identify Carey’s body.

Family members reportedly confirmed to authorities that Miriam was in Connecticut the day before the shooting, and spoke with her mother by telephone, telling her she was going to a Michaels store to pick up some arts and crafts supplies. Instead, she went to Washington.

A Facebook page posted in memory of Carey by a person unrelated to the family, who told theGrio they were simply moved by the tragedy and wished to remain anonymous, had garnered more than 3,000 “likes” as of midday Friday.

Meanwhile, one of Carey’s four sisters, Valerie Carey, a retired New York City police Sargent, tweeted on Thursday: “So my sister is trending on Twitter. So sad it’s like this.”

She posted a longer Twitter message on Friday thanking those who have shown support for the family and adding the hashtag: #ilovemysister.

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