NC judge dismisses murder charge against mother who stabbed child to death at UNC
A mother with a history of mental illness was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the fatal stabbing of her 5-year-old son on the UNC campus.
Guilford County Superior Court Judge Joe Craig committed Ebony Olowu, 37, to a state forensic hospital for the death of her son, Israel, and injuries she inflicted on her husband. The incident happened just before midnight Aug. 19, 2017, at the Baity Hill Graduate & Family Housing complex.
Olowu, who has been under treatment at Central Regional Hospital in Raleigh, will remain in the custody of a mental health facility until a court determines that she is no longer mentally ill or a danger to herself and others, Craig said.
Olowu’s husband, UNC graduate student Victor Olowu, and her relatives were in the courtroom for Monday’s hearing. Olowu’s attorney comforted her, placing a hand on her back, as she sobbed quietly during the prosecution’s opening statements.
Following the courtroom’s lunch break, she briefly turned and smiled softly at her husband, who was sitting in the front row behind the defense table. It was the only time she faced the courtroom during the hearing.
Psychiatrist George Corvin testified that Olowu suffers from a major depressive disorder with secondary psychotic features. Her diagnosis was heavily influenced by the trauma of two miscarriages, he said.
Based on his interviews and other information, Corvin testified, Olowu’s mental state had prevented her from understanding that her actions were wrong.
A second expert witness, Central Regional Hospital psychologist Matthew McNally, said he agreed in general with Corvin’s conclusions.
McNally noted, however, that he thought substance abuse also played a role in Olowu’s psychotic break.
Olowu had not been violent to her child before, her attorney Dana Graves said.
Child sexual abuse
Graves explained how Olowu, who grew up in Oklahoma, had struggled with mental health issues and depression for most of her life. She was sexually abused for years, beginning at a young age, Graves said, and had attempted suicide multiple times.
Olowu met Victor Olowu when both were in college in Oklahoma. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy, Olowu began to experience frequent seizures, Graves said, and was discharged from the military.
She became pregnant but miscarried her first son, Samson, at 22 weeks, plunging her into a “deep depression,” Graves said.
The couple moved to Chicago and then to Chapel Hill when Victor Olowu was accepted into the MBA program. Olowu was not happy about the move, Corvin testified, but was willing to go for her family. Israel was the center of her world, Graves said.
“The birth of Israel was a critical point,” Graves said, struggling to keep her composure.
“She completely wrapped her identity around Israel,” she said. “You’re going to hear that every ounce of her being went into being his mother.”
After Victor Olowu traveled to California for an internship, Olowu, who had just learned she was pregnant for a third time, decided to take Israel to go see him. While in California, she and Israel also flew to China, because Israel had been accepted into the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ Mandarin program.
“This kid was loved and very well taken care of,” Corvin testified.
Second miscarriage
In China, Olowu miscarried again. She was treated before returning to California with her son and the body of her unborn child, whom she planned to bury beside her first child. The family drove back to Chapel Hill a few days later, arriving just hours before the killing.
Olowu brought edible marijuana products back with her from California and tested positive for the drug when she was arrested.
She spent part of the day in Chapel Hill on Aug. 19 looking for glasses so they could watch the eclipse later that night, Corvin testified. When the family went to get food, Olowu stayed in the car. She also stayed home while her husband took Israel to the park, he said.
Corvin testified that Olowu made several strange comments that day and had been singing religious songs. As she sat in bed that night with her husband sleeping beside her, he testified, she said she heard the voice of God forgiving her for her miscarriages and telling her that the end of the world was near.
Olowu told him that the voice said she, her husband and Israel were angels who had to die to get to heaven, Corvin testified.
Victor Olowu called 911 that night after waking up to find his wife straddling him with a knife in her hand, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Nieman said. She stabbed her husband in the head and arm, Nieman said, and told him that “he had to die.”
Victor Olowu struggled with her to get the knife and met UNC Police in the doorway of the home, Nieman said. Police found Israel under a dining table with a stab wound to his back and several more wounds to his chest, he said.
After breaking through the locked door to the master bedroom, police found a large amount of blood and also saw blood under the bathroom door, Nieman said. That door also was locked, he said. Police heard running water and ordered Olowu, who was speaking incoherently inside, to come out.
Police kicked open the bathroom door to find Olowu slumped over with severe cuts to her wrists. A razor was nearby, and pills were all over in the bathroom, Nieman said.
Olowu and her husband were treated for injuries before she was arrested. Emergency workers also unsuccessfully treated Israel.
Corvin said he was surprised that Olowu, who initially was charged with murder and non-negligent manslaughter, had survived her wounds.
“She really hurt herself seriously,” he said.
‘An unimaginable tragedy’
The prosecution declined to call witnesses, asking only a few questions when McNally was on the stand. Nieman, in his closing statement, recollected how he was called to the scene at 3 a.m. Aug. 20 and saw what had happened.
The prosecution has a responsibility to protect the public’s safety, he said, noting that the case affected the community in Chapel Hill, at UNC and statewide, as well as the Olowu family.
“I want Ms. Olowu and Mr. Olowu to know that we are human beings who know that this is an unimaginable tragedy for them,” Nieman said.
Defense attorney Crista Collazo was moved to tears as she talked about the relationship that Olowu shared with her son, whom the family affectionately called “Izzy,” she said. Victor Olowu held a hand to his downturned face as she spoke.
“Whenever she was depressed or suicidal, Izzy is what got her out of it,” Collazo said, noting that Olowu kept a picture of her son near her pill bottles to fight the depression.
“Spending time with him got her out of her deep depression when nothing else really did,” Collazo said.
Victor Olowu still talks with his wife every day, supports her and wants her to get help, Collazo said.
Victor Olowu declined to comment after the hearing.
Staff writer Virginia Bridges contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 3:01 PM.
