WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Friends and relatives describe Amy Kern as an all-American girl.
Police describe her as a murderer.
The thrity-year-old is charged with two brutal killings over the weekend, but many of those who know her say Kern is a victim too.
The victim of a failed mental health system.
It may be hard to think of amy Kern that way, but her lawyer, her fiance, even realtives - many of whom are still trying to cope with the pain she inflicted on them this past weekend - say it it's true.
"When she's off her medication it's almost like she's a wild animal," says former boyfriend Colin McCarthy.
McCarthy says he was saddened but not completely suprised when he found out it was Kern whose delusional rampage Saturday morning left 59-year-old Will Chapman and Kern's 80-year-old grandmother Donna Kern - dead.
"As a nation we maybe need to focus a little bit and prioritize a little more in the community on those who are truly sick," said Kern's lawyer Nellie King.
She says it's a sad commentary on the state of mental health care in our country.
King says Kern and her family had been trying for years to get assistance.
"She desperately sought help from mental health professionals, law enforcement and the like."
In Palm Beach County, health care officials say we've made strides in the past six to eight months, using a grant money to form a network that's working to help those with mental illness get the help they need.
"I mean, I think that's small comfort to the victims, but yes, I think she was a victim too," says Marjorie Silberman, CEO of the Mental health Association of Palm Beach County.
Silberman says unfortunately, it's tragedies like these that make headlines.
Last year, a deadly shooting rampage at a West Palm Beach Wendy's restaurant.
Last month, the 190th arrest of a Boca Raton man charged with car-jacking.
In each case, Silberman points out, innocent people paid the price for mental illness that had gone unchecked, untreated, or perhaps both.
If anything possitive can come from such tragedies, she hopes it leads the public "to looking at the criminal justice system. To looking at service available in the community. To making sure there's no wrong door so that people can get services when they need them."
Her lawyer says the night before the murders, Kern told police officers in Georgia she was having problems with her medications, but nothing was done.
She says the thirty-year-old then drove herself to a mental health facility in Savannah, but no one aswered the door.
It was only then she decided to head for South Florida - with deadly consequences.
