The judge presiding over the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother who admitted to killing her three children, ordered the jury to continue deliberating after jurors again reported being unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Judge William Sullivan read the jurors what is known as a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, which instructs the jurors to make their best efforts to reach a unanimous verdict in the case, after they delivered their latest update Wednesday afternoon. According to Massachusetts law, if the jury remains at an impasse after receiving this instruction, the case will result in a mistrial.

Reading from the instruction, Sullivan told the jury that they have “no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to six persons who are more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it than you are, or that more or clearer evidence will be produced on one side or the other.”

“With all this in mind,” he continued, “it is your duty to decide this case if you can do so conscientiously.”

Clancy, 36, watched the jury as Sullivan delivered the instruction.

The development comes one day after the jury first reported being unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the case.

The jury — which comprises nine women and three men, according to reporters in the courtroom — has been deliberating since Thursday for an estimated 28 hours.

If the case results in a mistrial, it would be up to the local prosecutor, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz, to decide whether to bring the case before another jury on the same charges.

On Tuesday, Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, told reporters she is not emotionally prepared for the possibility of another trial. He also said a hung jury would mean trying the case again, adding, “Tim Cruz will never drop it, that’s for sure.”

The trial centers on Clancy’s state of mind at the time she killed 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan in the basement of her Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023.

Reddington alleges she was experiencing postpartum psychosis — a rare psychiatric emergency that can affect women after childbirth — at the time of the killings and is urging jurors to find her not guilty by reason of insanity. That verdict would commit Clancy to a state-run psychiatric facility with the opportunity for potential release in the future following review. She has been at one such facility, Tewksbury Hospital, for the past couple of years, and is partially paralyzed as a result of her suicide attempt the night of the killings.

Prosecutors are seeking a triple first-degree murder conviction, which would send Clancy to prison for life without the possibility of parole.

The jury could also find Clancy guilty of second-degree murder, which would result in a life sentence with the possibility of parole, or manslaughter, which could send her to prison for up to 20 years per count.

The trial, which began in July, has featured dozens of emotional witness testimonies and hundreds of exhibits. Clancy’s ex-husband, Patrick, her mother, sister and former in-laws all testified that she was a loving mother prior to the killings and emphasized her monthslong struggle with postpartum depression and her attempts to seek treatment.

First responders testified about what they saw at the chaotic scene, and medical professionals recounted their efforts to save the children, whom Clancy strangled with exercise bands in the basement.

The trial has been livestreamed, allowing people to follow the proceedings online. The case has inflamed debates about maternal mental health and given rise to conspiracy theories, despite Clancy repeatedly admitting to expert witnesses for the prosecution that she carried out the killings. She also admitted to the killings in a civil lawsuit she brought against several of her medical providers.

The proceedings have also become wrapped up in the culture wars, with prominent right-wing media figures — including Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Ben Shapiro and Jack Posobiec — criticizing women who have voiced support for Clancy amid her mental health struggles. Allies of the Make America Healthy Again movement, meanwhile, have blamed the antidepressants Clancy took for the killings, though psychiatrists have told MS NOW that several factors were likely at play.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.

CORRECTION (Sept. 2, 2026, 3:34 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the name of the Plymouth County district attorney. He is Tim Cruz, not Ted Cruz.

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