Dr. Insanity - Mother Realizes She Ran Over Her Own Son

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

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James had slipped and fell. Because the huge sweat, slippery, and he had hit his head. So I went to the bathroom, I came out, he was gone. Did it kill him? Just tell me where he was by his day. On a February evening, Brittany and her boyfriend pulled over deep in the Ohio forests

with a plan to abandon James, their six-year-old child. However, as they went to drive away, James was tragically dragged under the wheels of the car and had his life taken. Days later, they walked into the Middleton Police Department claiming James had gone missing. A search began for the boy immediately, but police knew something was wrong. Their story was full of holes, and the couple seemed nervous, so they were each taken into an interrogation room with a detective determined to get to the bottom of things. I'm Detective Hoover, okay? They called me and my partner out for anything to do with children.

So this is real important this part If you have to be 100% honest with me with everything Her boyfriend, who was also called James, was in another room at the same police station And detectives are going to compare their stories There were many red flags right off the bat in this case As the couple claimed he had been missing for most of the night Before they decided to contact police

If your 6-year-old had gone missing You'd likely be doing everything you can To get them back as soon as possible So the cops were sure something sinister was afoot So what happened? What time did you guys go to bed last night? Well, the kids go to bed at 9. Okay. And we normally go to bed at 10.

Last time I knew, I told them all the 9 o'clock time for bed. So they all went upstairs to the rooms. And I went upstairs a little bit later to see if they were asleep. Sure. And they were all asleep. So then that's when I came down, waited a couple minutes, just to see if they might have come down, stairs or something. And then I went to bed.

Okay. What time did you get up this one? Um, who woke you up at eight? He woke you up at eight? Okay. You said you try to wake me up several times, but But you don't remember? What kind of medicine do you think? I take an anxiety notes.

Okay. This is where I need to be honest with me. It is what it is. Okay. Do you use any other type of narcotics, drugs, illegal drugs, or anything? Do you smoke weed? Yeah. Okay.

You don't use heroin? You don't use, uh... No, I've had family members. have family members that they have to weigh them that stuff and okay do you know if your boyfriend does is you use any type of dope at all not that you know of well you would know more than anybody that's why I'm asking you're not going to get him in any trouble I just need to know if you're being honest with me that's what I'm trying to feel I mean I've never seen what I mean we smoke cigarettes I'm not talking about that I said drugs you'll legal

of course a lot of people smoke cigarettes a lot of people smoke weeds A lot of people you say... I mean, he's not the only thing I know. Okay, that's all that's the only thing I know. I don't know if he does anything else. Okay, you don't need to protect him. I'm just getting... I'm getting a feel for you, if you're going to be honest.

I just need you to be honest with me, honestly. Brittany appears to have a little trouble opening up about her boyfriend's drug habit. This can help the detective determine whether she is being honest in the future, as she should treat opening up about later details with similar ease. They continue to go over the details for the morning James went missing, but during this line of questioning, Brittany begins to show some concerning signs. What time did James say that he first noticed the James missing?

Well, I don't know what time he in fact got up, but he normally, every day, normally he gets up around four, anywhere from four to five, maybe sometimes a little later. When Brittany has asked more questions about her boyfriend, she appears to look up and to the left. There's a lot of contention around eye movements while recalling information. Some say the direction that someone looks is a direct tell for if someone is lying. But it's never a guaranteed indication.

However, the mere act of suddenly avoiding eye contact with the detective while answering is a more solid sign, as many people associate eye contact with trust. Thus, it's often hard for people to maintain a gaze while lying, whereas those trying to argue the truth will often look directly into the detective's eyes to seem more believable. Has James ever walked out? I mean, been missing before? Um, he's, he was missing once before. How long was that?

Um, I want to say it was the first of the month, but it could have been later than that, but I know it's sometimes it's not. All right, from that house? Yes. All right, so he was missing once before from that house, and how long was he gone for? Um, I don't know when he was outside, but we found out, well, he found him at the, you know how there's basement stairs. Mm-hmm. Well, he found him at the bottom of the basement stairs.

I don't know the basement stairs. I don't know what he was doing. Is there only one way to get into your basement? Yes. That's from the outside? Mm-hmm. Okay. The fact that James has been missing before is another red flag for the detective. It's possible James is just an adventurous child and tries to slip away at every opportunity he gets.

But it could also be a sign of abuse or neglect in the home. Either way, it's giving the detective all the more reason to be suspicious. I've been a policeman for 27 years. I've been assigned a detective. I've interviewed a lot of people, hundreds and hundreds of people over my career. There's something going on here. Something's not right here. I've done this, like I said, I've interviewed hundreds of people over my career. And, you know, people get scared, they get themselves backed into a corner, and they don't know what to do.

And my job is to help them through that because sometimes it is what it is. It's an act of something happened and parents freak out and, you know, don't know what to do. So is anything else before I walk out of here this is your opportunity to be 100% straight with me I suspect James or this is I got mad at the boy last night and he I spanked him and he took both out the door or just anything's weird it's fine to tell me you're not going to tell me anything that's going to surprise me okay I mean did you hurt your baby yeah my do you know my kids I would never okay do you know who hurt your baby Do you know your baby's whereabouts right now? Okay. Do you suspect James is doing anything to your baby?

No. Okay. Are you 100% sure on that one? Yeah, he knows him at the room right then. Okay. Note that the detective is making a conscious effort to refer to James as her baby. This is in a direct attempt to exact an emotional reaction from Brittany. This kind of specific word holds a lot more weight than just kid or child,

as it portrays James as more vulnerable. The detective is also trying to let Brittany know that he's sure something is wrong, and as he'll soon find out, his instincts are absolutely correct. What was the needle that we found? Neal found at the side door. You know anything about that? So do you use needles for any of your medication? There's the people next door do those drugs.

Okay. So maybe it was a problem on them, is that you're saying? Yeah. We've always seen a whole bunch of people just walking in through the drugs. Oh yeah. Cutting it, cutting through me. Yeah. You ever seen James, you had any needles?

So you said something about James does work, like doing electrical work for houses? Yes. Like rentals, I would assume. Yeah. All right. Who does he work for? Taylor. It's the only going to know his name is Taylor.

And was Taylor is giving the keys of these? Are they all baking, I would assume? Um, I'm not. I'm not. Do you go clean them out? What do they do? Do you know? I know, like, when they put people out and they get evicted and they sit people's stuff

out, put it in, I don't know if they sit it out, put it in the dumpster. I don't know what they do. Does he have, like, keys in the house? James, does he have keys of the houses and stuff? I guess that he works for. Would he ever come in with a bunch? I mean, you would know. I mean, did he come with a bunch of keys or?

He's always had the same key that he just had. But no, from like, extra keys at you have. Basically, I'm waiting for my guy to come here. He's going to do the polygraph for me. We'll just kind of go from there. Brittany now tries to avoid the questions regarding her boyfriend's drug use. But if she does agree to take a polygraph test, then the truth could finally be revealed. All this time, there have been people searching for James, hoping to find signs of life.

But as we'll later find out, his body isn't anywhere near where they're looking. I'm getting a story that is totally different than what you've told me. And I don't know why James is telling me that, but that's what he's telling me. He's wanted more details than that. Okay, but I'm not going to share that with you. I need to know what happened last night with your boy, your six-year-old. A six-year-old doesn't get up and walk out the door, okay? There's more to the story than what you're telling me.

Okay, I've talked to James. My partner's talked to James extensively, and James is coming off of this slowly. I would suggest for you, just tell me the truth now. He might have told him more now. I don't know. I've been in here with you. Okay, but James has said he took a deep breath, and I suggest that to you.

Take a drink of your pop, take a deep breath, and just tell me what's going on here. Now Brittany finds herself in a position where she might doubt exactly what James has told detectives in the other room, and she finally crags. He told, James told me to get rid of the kids. Okay. And so,

I took them for a drive to make them think I want to get rid of, but I'm not going to get rid of my kids for any body on the planet. Even though she's getting closer to the truth, Brittany is still trying to deceive the detective by trying to convince him that getting rid of her kids isn't something she'd really do, despite that being exactly what she's guilty of. I don't know what road it was.

Okay. It was just driving around. well, the kids were going to the bathroom. I had pulled over to this, I don't know, a little booth. In the little town? Yeah. Okay. It's a little stall or something.

Mm-hmm. A bathroom. I pulled over to the bathroom and let them all use the bathroom. Well, it was raining and stuff, I left the door unlopped in the van. Mm-hmm. And told them. We'll all go in here, not all left at once, but each one of us go in here, one at times, use the bathroom. So we went in the bathroom, well, I couldn't go there, but when I went to go in the bathroom, I told him to just get in the van.

Well, James had flipped and fell. So it was usually just a wet, slippery, and he had hit his head. The problem here is simple. If James had simply hit his head, then why not just get medical help then and there? Brittany is trying to take away as much blame as she can from herself. The truth was, Brittany had simply decided she wanted to get rid of her kids for good, allegedly at the request of her boyfriend. Both she and James drove her three children to Rush Run Wildlife Area in Southern Preble County,

where they had a change of heart and decided to only leave their youngest, James. But as they tried to drive away from the park without him, he tried to grab onto the car and was dragged under the wheels. Sadly, the accident killed him, and Brittany and James returned to find his body in the road. The detective's suspicions have been right all along. After Brittany and James drove home, they placed the six-year-old's body in a spare room of their house

before they dumped his body off a bridge that crosses the Ohio River. Did he kill him? Did he say it? Did he fall hurt him? Well, he was, I asked him he was at him, okay, he wasn't answered me. So I noticed he was breathing kind of heavy. Mm-hmm. And I thought maybe that's not normal.

I've never seen him blurry less yet before. Well, he was breathing. I don't know how long he was breathing for, but he had fell and buffed his head on the side of the van. Mm-hmm. And trying to get in there. And he was breathing heavy for a couple minutes, and then I try to do CPR.

So he stopped breathing, and where's his body at? You're doing good, okay? Just tell me where his body is that, because I gotta go find it. For you, okay, this is called Cloder now. Okay, where's his body at? Would you take it back home with you? No, I left it. You left it? So who's all in the car with you? All of us. James, you...

Yes, we always know. Then the three children. So all five of you. Yes. All right. And where, what park was this, or where was this at in the Middletown? little town because it would make sense to put to me in a dumpster did you put him in a dumpster did you put him just let him lay right there was he buried I mean that's what I need to know I didn't do nothing well I just let them lay in the parking lot because it was a plain parking lot there was

I believe like water over here or something and there was a one little stall and I left him just lay on the ground okay did James do anything with him, your boyfriend? I mean, it doesn't make sense just laying right there on the ground. Well, I'm not to lay in there on the ground because I was going to call the ambulance, but I was scared, shook up to what to do. Okay. So now we need to figure out where this is at? Well, he, the little boy was laying on the ground.

I went to the bathroom and told him, you try real quick, because I couldn't hold myself. I told him, you try real quick to give him CPR. And so I went to the bathroom. I came out, he was gone. Regardless of how true her story is, Brittany has now told the detective that James is dead. The priority is to find him. After Brittany details the moment they dumped his body,

police are able to search the area, but despite their best efforts, they would never find him. Brittany would plead not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that she had a learning disability and did not understand what was happening. But an evaluation by a psychologist showed that she was competent to stand trial. Of course, both were found guilty, and Brittany would face the harshest punishment.

She would be sentenced to murder and child endangerment, totaling 21 years in prison. James, on the other hand, was found guilty of kidnapping, child endangerment and gross abuse of a corpse, and would be given the maximum sentence of 19 years.