Family members of Miriam Carey, 34, the Stamford, CT woman who rammed her car into White House gates and instigated a car chase with police that ended in her death are speaking out. CBS News reported that Carey's two sisters, Valarie Carey and Amy Carey-Jones said Friday that they are as baffled as anyone else as to what drove their sister to engage in the chase with police with her 1-year-old baby daughter in the car.
Valarie Carey is a retired police officer who said that the police's use of force was excessive. "There was no reason for a gun to be used," she said.
Amy Carey-Jones said that her sister "seemed OK" when she spoke to her last week.
The two women were addressing reporters outside Valarie Carey's house in Brooklyn, NY. They told the assembled media that Miriam Carey had been suffering from postpartum depression since the birth of her daughter a year ago.
Miriam Carey, according to the FBI, was considered by coworkers and friends to be positive, upbeat and normal. However, in April of 2012, she suffered a head injury. It was while she was in the hospital receiving treatment for that injury that she discovered she was pregnant.
In December of 2012, after the birth of her daughter, Stamford Police report, Miriam Carey asked police for protection. She claimed to be a prophet and that President Barack Obama was monitoring her and her residence electronically. She was taken for a mental health evaluation at that time, but it is not currently clear what the results of that evaluation found or what doctors prescribed as a regimen of treatment.
Relatives now say that they believe that she was struggling with profound depression and other issues.
However, a friend named Donald Knowles who saw Miriam Carey days prior to the car chase and police confrontation that ended her life says that when he saw her, she was "all smiles" and acted like "she didn't have a care in the world."
Watch the video, embedded via CBS Philadelphia:
