Postpartum depression eyed in Krystal Cascetta murder-suicide: report

New York City cancer doctor Krystal Cascetta, who shot and killed her 4-month-old daughter before fatally turning the gun on herself, is thought to have been driven by postpartum depression, according to a new report.

Sources told CBS News that investigators are eyeing possible mental health conditions — including severe postpartum psychosis — in the heartbreaking murder-suicide Saturday at the 40-year-old Mount Sinai doctor’s million-dollar home in Somers, Westchester County.

“It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear this news,” advocate Adriana Pentz told the outlet.

Medical professionals and mental health activists say the condition is believed to impact at least 20% of all new moms.

Dr. Cathrine Daniels, a psychiatrist at Westchester Medical Center, said the condition, “really does not discriminate based on education, or age, or how badly a woman wants a baby or wants to be a mom.”

Daniels says that because of this, it’s important to shower new moms with love and support and watch over them in case they start to struggle.

“With an eye towards women seeming very anxious and concerned about the welfare of the baby, women doubting their own ability to adequately care for the baby, and a real sort of sadness and disinterest and withdrawal,” Daniels said. 

Activists working to spread awareness of postpartum mental health issues have found hope in zuranolone — the first FDA-backed drug to treat postpartum depression, which gained approval this week.

“I think what’s so significant about this — it brings attention to and progress to this area of treating postpartum depression, which gives all of us a lot of hope,” said Pentz, who struggled with postpartum depression a decade ago after giving birth to her first child.

“I started to withdraw from my surroundings. I was feeling very nervous. I became very worried about my daughter,” she recalled of her own nightmare experience.

Investigators have not publicly shared what they believe led to the horrifying tragedy. Social media posts from Cascetta, 40, and her 37-year-old husband, Tim Talty, appeared to show an idyllic and successful life since their 2019 marriage.

State police said the Hematology-Oncology specialist died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at about 7 a.m. Saturday after apparently shooting her child.

“A preliminary investigation revealed that at approximately 7:00 a.m., Krystal Cascetta entered her child’s room and shot her baby and then turned the gun on herself,” state police said in a statement.

“The scene is consistent with a murder/suicide.”

The horrifying incident took place at the $1 million Westchester home Cascetta shared with Talty.

It’s unclear how old the couple’s daughter was, but social media posts suggest she was born around March.

Cascetta graduated from Albany Medical College, according to her biography on the Mt. Sinai website, where she was given an award for the compassion she showed when dealing with patients.

She completed her residency at Hofstra North Shore LIJ School of Medicine at North Shore University Hospital, where she earned a similar award.

At Mount Sinai, Cascetta specialized in breast-cancer research, a passion her husband said was inspired by the death of her mother’s best friend from the illness when she was in middle school.

“When Krystal was in 8th grade, her mother’s best friend passed away from breast cancer,” Talty wrote on the website for his company. “It was this life-altering event that helped Krystal decide that Medical Oncology would be her specialty.

“The people closest to Krystal will tell you that being a doctor is in her DNA,” the Talty Bars website continues. “Krystal, herself, will tell you that she has wanted to be a doctor for as long as she can remember; that even as a child she could be found wrapping her dolls in gauze.”