Prosecutors told a British court this week that the mother of a nonverbal boy with autism allegedly smothered her son to death before attempting suicide because “the challenges of caring for an autistic child” had become too overwhelming.
Claire Button, 35, goes on trial this week at Basildon Crown Court on a murder allegation stemming from the death of her 5-year-old son Lincoln at their family’s home last year, according to Essex Live and the Manchester Evening News. The BBC had reported earlier this year that the mother denied purposefully murdering her kid, however Essex Live and Manchester Evening News reported this week that she has since admitted to manslaughter.
Button’s husband, Nicky, arrived home from work on the evening of December 15, 2024, to find their kid dead. His wife was evidently in need of medical attention and was brought to a nearby hospital.
According to Essex Live, prosecutors claimed that Button strangled her son to death and placed a letter next to his body that stated “DNR – do not resuscitate,” before leaving another note that read: “He [Lincoln] does not fit in the world, and where he doesn’t fit, I don’t either.”
“An ambulance was called, paramedics arrived, but Lincoln died despite their best efforts,” Coroner Officer Linsey Chaffe earlier told the BBC.
Prosecutor Andrew Jackson stated in court on Monday, Oct. 6, that “what happened that day was a deliberate and unlawful act plainly done with the intention of killing Lincoln,” according to the Manchester Evening News.
“It appears that the challenges of caring for an autistic child had caused the defendant to become depressed, and she chose to murder her child,” Jackson also claimed, according to the source.
According to the publication, Button’s mother admitted her to a mental health institution at their local hospital in the summer of 2024. According to Essex Live, Button was diagnosed with depression and prescribed medicine, which looked to be effective at first. However, by October, Jackson claimed that Button had “marked a return to the problems” she was experiencing with depression.
On the morning of his death, Button took Lincoln to see her mother, who lived nearby and assisted the family in caring for her grandson, according to Essex Live.
According to the site, Button later made an emergency 999 call around 11:25 a.m. local time, telling the operator that she intended to commit herself via a “overdose.”
According to Essex Live and the Manchester Evening News, the operator informed Button that an ambulance would not be able to reach her home for “ten hours.”
According to reports, Button’s husband, Nicky, arrived home around 3 p.m. that day.
In the weeks after the purported murder, Lincoln’s family mourned his loss.
Nicky’s cousin, Jamie Warren, told the BBC that Lincoln was “an all-round happy kid, who loved his toys” as well as “trains” and “rainbows.” Warren described Lincoln’s death 10 days before Christmas as “a horrible situation” for his family.
“It’s sad for me but seeing Nicky and Lincoln’s grandma, seeing how broken they are as a family, is awful,” Warren told me. “Seeing them, and how quiet and broken they are, it’s so terrible, you wouldn’t want it on your worst enemy. It’s all you’re truly thinking about. “Especially since he had his entire life ahead of him.”
