Suspect in Mass. teacher killing ‘foaming at the mouth’ after attack on clinician, report says
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Court documents say a Massachusetts teenager charged with killing his math teacher appeared to be "psychotic" after he allegedly attacked a female clinician at a Department of Youth Services detention center in Boston earlier this month.
The details were released Tuesday by a Superior Court judge in response to a motion by The Salem News.
According to the petition to have Philip Chism committed to Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital for 30 days of evaluation and treatment, the 15-year-old was "out of touch with reality" and "yelling, screaming incoherently (and) foaming at the mouth while being restrained by staff."
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In court papers released last week at the request of The Salem News, Essex County prosecutors said Chism slipped away from caregivers before the June 2 incident at a youth facility in Boston.
Prosecutor Kate MacDougall said Chism crept along a common hallway "crouched down out of view," followed the woman to a locker room and tried to choke her while holding a pencil. Other workers came to the woman's aid when she screamed.
Chism pleaded not guilty to robbing, raping and killing 24-year-old Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer after following her into a restroom last October. He was 14 at the time.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report