Nathaniel Fujita's changing behavior | Forensic Files

when he was on his way to Trinity before his depression he was a young man with Limitless possibilities many talents I
know this boy I know that he is not somebody who could kill Lauren there's never been
any explanation in our minds other than mental illness we was taken to a psychiatrist
who evaluated him and went to a psychiatrist again after the breakups the psychiatrist did prescribe
or or offer to prescribe medications for him and you know Nathaniel refused the prescription one of the things that the
family really wanted to do was to find out really an answer I mean how how how did their son who had no prior record
who was on track to go to a fine College play football there how did this happen
we uh tried to find an expert a psychiatrist who specializes in in uh adolescence and
especially adolescent homicides and so we we located uh this doctor Dr Meyers uh and sent down the information his
mood was was terrible he was uh very depressed he felt hopeless the way he put it he was concerned about being
stigmatized as being mentally ill that maybe he was going to go crazy and that by taking medicines it would mean to him
that I am losing it he had several diagnoses diagnoses that were all active at that time of the event that he had
been in a a major depressive episode for for um weeks if not even months he did have a a full-blown uh episode of at the
time uh with uh his attack of Lauren a lot of jurors in my experience almost don't want to believe that can can
affect somebody to this level that it could cause you to do something that you don't understand a lot of times the
jurors want somebody who's just out there howling at the moon or you know but but it's a lot more subtle than that
I think the lesson is that um this type of depression this type of mental illness uh is very common especially in
Young uh males you know maybe an appeal will be successful maybe there'll be a maybe Nathaniel will be committed to
treatment rather than just warehousing which is what he has now

Nathaniel's uncle, George Mattingly, defense attorney William Sullivan, and psychiatrist Dr. Wade Meyers talk about Nate's diagnosis and the changes in the 18-year-old football player's behavior after his breakup with Lauren Astley.

Brief Summary

Nathaniel's case illustrates the complexities of mental illness and its impact on adolescent behavior.

Key points

The Unraveling of Nathaniel. A promising young man spirals into depression, leading to tragic consequences.
Understanding Mental Illness. Experts discuss the subtlety of mental illness and its impact on behavior.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

How did this happen?

A mother grapples with her son's tragic turn.

0:59WatchOct 27, 2013

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