Parnham says this young mother paid frequent visits to the Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority for medication and evaluations. He says in the days leading up to the two-month-old Masih Golabbakhsh's death, the mother described fear about some person or people with negative energy coming to harm her children.
Parnham says the mother was never able to bond with the child and sources close to the family have told us that's the reason this couple moved in with their in-laws, so the grandparents could care for the children.
Overall, Parnham is painting a very disturbing picture of this young Iranian mother, saying if she is not psychotic, then she is severely depressed. That's how he plans to approach this case, with an insanity defense on the table.
"A mother that does what she's accused of doing has got not to be in her right mind and if that's the case, I mean, what mother in her right mind would, if the facts, bear it out, bury her live child?" said Parnham.
Parnham was flanked by the woman's family members Saturday, including the baby's father, paternal grandparents and uncles. They did not speak with any media Saturday, but do plan to give us comment, we are told, at some point when they are ready.
We also learned Saturday the mother has been hospitalized twice before for mental health issues, once overseas and again here in Houston at Ben Taub Hospital after the birth of her first child.
Narjes Modaressi is being held in the psychiatric unit of the Harris County Jail. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance in the 339th district court Monday morning.
