WESTON, W.Va. — The father of a three-month-old baby girl who was stabbed to death by her mother in Dec. 2022 says there were clear symptoms of post-partum psychosis.
“She wanted help and she reached out for it,” he said of Krista Brunecz, 31, of Weston.
The father and boyfriend of Brunecz contacted MetroNews last week to shed light on the baby’s stabbing death that occurred on Dec. 30, 2022 at the Weston Arbors Apartments. The man asked not to be identified for this story.
Brunecz was arrested and charged last month with the death of a child by a parent by child abuse.
Six days prior to the tragedy, the father said Brunecz wasn’t acting like herself.
“She wasn’t the same person I knew. She was slipping into a very dark place. She was hearing voices. She couldn’t sleep. She knew something was wrong,” he said.
The couple had been together for one year and was preparing to move the week of the stabbing incident. The father/boyfriend said Brunecz visited her doctor a day before the incident and was prescribed medication for depression and anxiety. She went to the ER at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital with the baby to receive help two days beforehand.
The man said Brunecz broke down instantly.
“She had no symptoms before Christmas. It hit her really fast,” he said. “She was slipping into psychosis is what I really believe. She was acting bizarre.”
According to the man, Brunecz is currently on suicide watch. He said he has not been in contact with her since she was hospitalized.
Lewis County deputies said Brunecz stabbed her infant daughter with a butcher knife and then stabbed herself. She and the baby were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
The baby died of several stab wounds to the chest, according to an autopsy by the state Medical Examiner’s Office. Brunecz was treated for self-inflicted stab wounds to the head, chest and wrist.
A bloody butcher knife was recovered on a chair next to a couch in Brunecz’s living room, according to the criminal complaint.
The father/boyfriend said he doesn’t believe Brunecz was properly diagnosed.
“I don’t know if the medication had anything to do with it,” he said.
The night before the baby was killed, he said Brunecz flipped a switch and told him to stay away from her.
“She said she didn’t want to be with me anymore, that I wasn’t being supportive enough. She was scaring me. It was like she was in psychosis already. I never seen her like that before,” he said.
The man said he drove back to his home in Spencer. The next morning, he heard his daughter was dead.
“Krista loved this girl,” he said. “She was definitely wanting a girl. We were both really happy. She was the most beautiful girl. We were just at my family’s for Christmas Eve. In just one day, she fell into a dark place very quickly.”
The man said Brunecz’s eye color was black at the time. He said there needs to be more attention on this issue.
“Krista is a victim of this illness. She was very sick. She’s not a murderer,” he said. “I believe it’s time for medical professionals to look more into the symptoms of post-partum psychosis and take mental health more seriously.”
Brunecz is currently being held in North Central Regional Jail without bail.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case.