Mom of Girl Who Stabbed to Death 9-Year-Old Brother Blames ADHD Medication

The mother of a preteen girl who stabbed to death her 9-year-old brother said she believes her daughter had a manic episode induced by the ADHD medication she was taking.

Speaking exclusively to NewsNation's Chris Cuomo, April Lyda said she supports her daughter, even though the 12-year-old girl stabbed to death her son, Zander Lyda, in their Tulsa, Oklahoma, apartment back on January 5.

The case is back in the news again after Law & Crime obtained body cam footage of the child's arrest.

In it, the sobbing girl repeatedly apologizes for stabbing her brother multiple times, both to police and to her distraught mother. She says a number of times in the footage she did not mean to hurt him.

Zander was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead from repeated stab wounds to his chest.

Appearing on Cuomo's show Thursday, Lyda said she believes the drug caused her daughter to act out violently against Zander.

She said her daughter had been on medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder for five years without issue.

When the girl started home schooling, she was taken off the drug, which Lyda does not name. She claims she put her daughter back on the medication when she returned to public school.

After being back on the pills for one month, she started cutting herself, and was once again taken off the meds.

Lyda said the girl complained that she felt "angry for no reason."

"Unfortunately, it was too late," Lyda told Cuomo. "The damage was done. Stuff like this can happen months or even years after being off a medication like this."

Lyda said her daughter gave her no indication things were wrong prior to the stabbing.

She also said her daughter has not been charged with a crime, but that the girl could face arrest somewhere down the road.

Lyda, who also has a 3-year-old, insists the brother and sister were "very close," doing yoga together almost every night.

She said her daughter still can't say why she did what she did.

"She's heartbroken," Lyda said, noting she believes her daughter. "She said it was like it wasn't her."

Lyda's friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign for the single mom.