originally published by: Boston.com
24th July 2010

The woman who was shot and killed by police after she allegedly slashed three officers in her home yesterday morning had a history of mental illness, yet attempts to provide her treatment had failed, right up until the hours before the shooting, according to police, court records, and interviews with friends and neighbors.

Carol Lynn Kingsley, a 33-year-old mother who lost custody of her only child nearly four years ago, had been brought by emergency responders to Cambridge Hospital for a mental health evaluation at 3 a.m. yesterday, less than four hours before the shooting. A neighbor had called police complaining that she was fighting with her boyfriend.

But she was released from the hospital, and by 6:30 a.m. her neighbors’ and friends’ worst fears for her safety had materialized: Police were called to her Sycamore Terrace home again after Kingsley allegedly hit her boyfriend and tried to set fire to his clothes.

She allegedly grabbed a kitchen knife, barricaded herself inside her bathroom, and started slashing and stabbing at the officers, according to authorities. At one point, one of the officers fired a shot, killing Kingsley.

“She had her problems, but I never saw anything like this coming,’’ said Peter Cusick of Belmont, who had a six-year romantic relationship with Kingsley, but who stopped communicating with her in recent weeks because of her problems with alcohol.

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