COLUMBIA, S.C. - Authorities say three years ago, Christopher Pittman, then 12, shot his grandparents as they slept because they had scolded him for fighting. But Christopher's father, Joe Pittman, thinks his son killed because his sense of right and wrong was clouded by the anti-depressant Zoloft.

Joe Pittman spoke out against the drug in a Food and Drug Administration hearing early this year. The boy, who had threatened suicide, was put on the drug three weeks before the slayings, and his dose was doubled just two days earlier.

Joe Pittman's hands shook as he read his son's confession to a roomful of strangers during the hearing.

"I took everything out on my grandparents, who I loved so very much," wrote then-12-year-old Christopher Pittman. "When I was lying in my bed that night, I couldn't sleep because my voice in my head kept echoing through my mind, telling me to kill them."

But prosecutors and police say Christopher's actions during and after the November 2001 slayings show he clearly knew what he was doing was wrong.

The boy waited until his grandparents were sleeping and took a pump-action shotgun from a gun cabinet. He crept into the couple's dark bedroom, first shooting 66-year-old Joe Frank Pittman in his open mouth, then firing into the back of 62-year-old Joy Pittman's head.

Christopher then set the house on fire and drove off in the family car. When he got stuck on a dirt road 20 miles away, he told hunters he was kidnapped by a man who killed his grandparents, set the fire, drove him into the woods and ran away.

Christopher was living with his father's parents in hopes of turning his life around. He told defense experts he felt abandoned by his mother and his relationship with his father was rocky. No one answered phone calls to Joe Pittman's home.

A month before the slayings, Christopher was hospitalized in Florida, where his father lives, after he threatened to kill himself. The boy was prescribed the anti-depressant Paxil, but another doctor soon put him on Zoloft instead.

Pittman decided to send the boy to live with his grandparents in Chester County, a rural area between Columbia and Charlotte, N.C.

Christopher, who turns 16 in April, is being prosecuted as an adult and faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted at his trial, set to start next month. His lawyers argue that his case should be moved to Family Court, where if convicted, he could only be kept in custody until he turns 21.

Karen Menzies, one of Christopher's lawyers and an attorney specializing in lawsuits against anti-depressant makers, said medical research is available to support the Zoloft defense.

In the three years the teen has spent in jail awaiting trial, the FDA has become increasingly wary of doctors prescribing Zoloft and other antidepressants for children.

In October, the agency ordered the drugs to carry "black box" warnings _ the government's strongest warning short of a ban _ about increasing the risk of suicidal behavior in children.

"The science has been out there for a while. The prescription drug companies have been able to hide it," Menzies said.

On the other side is Pfizer Inc., the maker of Zoloft, which has aided the prosecution, according to Solicitor John Justice, who has since taken himself off the case for health reasons.

The company has vigorously fought cases claiming antidepressants cause violent or suicidal behavior.

A spokesman responded to inquiries by pointing out an October statement on the company's Web site addressing concerns of suicide attempts, saying studies show "no statistically significant difference" between children using Zoloft and nonusers. The statement, though, does not discuss any possible link between the drug and violent acts against others.

Trying to blame a drug for causing someone to commit a crime is an uphill fight, but it has been done successfully.

In April, a Santa Cruz, Calif., jury acquitted a man of attempted murder after he beat his friend, then blamed the episode on Zoloft.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers spokesman Jack King said the "Zoloft-made-me-do-it" defense likely means that the Pittman case will come down to defense vs. prosecution experts.

"It's going to be a battle of whose experts the jury believes," King said.

Christopher's maternal grandmother, Delnora Duprey, of Wildwood, Fla., said her grandson is no longer on any medication and is the "sweet, quiet, laid-back" boy she knew growing up. "He's the old Christopher again."

Menzies said the teenager is getting good grades and behaving behind bars.

Duprey says the "whole entire family is behind Christopher 150 percent."

She thinks Zoloft had to have caused Christopher to kill his grandparents because he loved them both, especially the grandfather he called "Pop-Pop."

"We used to joke that he was his Pop-Pop's shadow," Duprey said.

However, those who dealt with the boy after the crime feel differently.

"Anybody who could kill his grandparents in the fashion he did shouldn't be let loose on the public at age 21. And that would have been the best-case scenario," said former prosecutor Justice, who pushed to move the case to adult court.

The current prosecutor, Barney Giese of Columbia, said through his office that he doesn't talk about cases before they go to trial.

Chester County Sheriff Robbie Benson said interviews with Christopher left him shaken because he could not believe the lack of remorse. "This was cold-blooded."

Menzies said those observations might help her case.

"The boy was still suffering from the side-effects of this medication after the incident," she said. "I think we see a different Christopher now."



I have taken Zoloft a couple of times and will say that it gives your SEVERELY depressive mood swings, but I wouldn't say it makes you "cloudy" on what is right from wrong. I know it will effect every person differently, but for me I still knew what I was doing, even if I didn't care from the depressive mood swings.

I wasn't prescribed the drug for any medical reasons, I was just stupid enough to take it. One of my friends had them so I decided to "give it a try." Definately a dumb idea, but now I CAN relate to certain things these people say about the drug. I still don't see how it made this kid not know right from wrong...

first of all ..don't ever take any prescription med .. ever .. unless you're got the script for it ..
now .. I'm on Paxil myself .. and have been for several years .. I know enough that if I start getting depressed while taking it ..or get side effects.. the doc and I have a serious palaver .. a few years back .. when my marrage was crashing . i got serious depression .. called the doc .. he told me to cut the dosage and it cleared up ..
now .. i have a medical background from my service days .. even studied to be an EMT but decided to stick with the journalism biz .. my daugher in law is chief nurse of a surgical dept. for a large regional hospital ....now .. the responsibility of the doctor prescribing the drugs should ask the patient if they are having any side effects .. dizziness .. loss of concentration .. memory problems .. mood swings ... etc .. this using the drug as an excuse for aberent behavior I put in the same category as "the dog ate my homework" ..if the kid did hear voices, he should have told Gramps that "I hear things when the TV isn't on" ..

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Holton F. Brown,

and greenie.. just between you, me, the fence post and anybody else on this site .. DON'T EVER Take Zoloft with an anti-histemine ..It will knock you totally on your butt ..space you out .. and if you add booze .. might even kill you .. I had someone close to me accidentally combine the zoloft with the anti-histemine and he was non-compis mentus for nearly 12 hours .. luckily he had a friend staying with him to keep an eye and let me know how he was progressing on .. he recovered and hasn't touched anything not prescribed since ..

Yeah Sean. . .to touch on the Zoloft thing. Don't go putting that on your medical forms for your military deal. Mind altering drugs get people kicked out of the military just as fast as a DUI does.

On another note. Why is it that everytime someone kills somebody they claim it not to be their fault. Whether it's insanity, or drugs, or whatever. You ended somebody's life, that is the bottome line. If a person has a mental incapacity that is on their record; for their entire life I can understand. But jumping on the insanity bandwagon just drives me crazy(ha ha maybe I'll go kill somebody, no pun intended ).

they tried me on zoloft for depression, and it didn't work..no side effects..but no effects,period..right now am on luvox, which doesn't do much for the depression either, but at least DOES help my OCD symptoms considerably, thank God.

by the way .. the insanity defense seldom works unless the person is truely psychotic ...
even a sociopathic individuall is legally sane .. see, they know the difference between rght and wrong but don't give a shyat..