Was corrections officer who killed self, baby screened for postpartum depression?
State Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) Thursday asked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Paula Dow to investigate whether the county corrections officer who shot and killed herself and her 4-month old baby on Monday was screened, as required by law, for postpartum depression. Codey, the sponsor of a 2006 law that requires all new mothers to be screened for PPD, Thursday reached out to Dow, who has agreed to look into the matter. Codey is referring to the Officer Kelley McKenith, 39, of Newark who critically wounded her boyfriend and killed her son and herself as the climax to what investigators believe was a domestic dispute. “There is a genuine suspicion that postpartum depression may have played a large factor in this incident,” Codey said. “Here you have a generally well-regarded law enforcement officer who suddenly, and tragically, does something so uncharacteristic not long after giving birth. It certainly begs the question, was she screened for postpartum depression as requ
