Tanya Friedly Burned The House Down
November 22, 2008 by impqueen
Warren, MI – Tanya Laura Friedly, 32, tried to kill herself and her two children on Tuesday. And if not for the quick action of Friedly’s 13-year-old son, she probably would have succeeded.  After pulling her kids out of school Tuesday morning, Friedly made the kids hot chocolate laced with prescription drugs. She then left her son and ten-year-old daughter in the downstairs living room, went upstairs, and set the house on fire.
Tuesday morning was weird for Friedly’s two kids even before the fire. They left for school as usual, but their mother showed up by around 10:00 a.m. to pick them up, saying that both children had doctor’s appointments. But once they left school, Friedly said she just wanted to spend some time with the kids and took them home, where she made them hot chocolate and acted a little strangely, telling her son she was going to “go to HeavenHeaven reviews
“.
Friedly’s little girl drank her hot chocolate, but the young teenager didn’t finish his and put it down once his mother left the room. I don’t know if it tasted funny or if his hinky meter got tripped by his mom’s odd behavior, or if he just got lucky. But that move probably saved all their lives, as Tanya Friedly went upstairs and lit her bed on fire. Then she waited for the flames to engulf her home, her children, and herself.
SmokeSmoke reviews rises upwards, usually, but once it fills a room it will travel down halls and stairways. Still, though, a fire started from above a person will kill them slower and more painfully than a fire started below them, because smoke inhalation hits from a fire set low. I don’t know if Tanya Friedly knew she was dooming her children to an intensely painful, slow death that way, but more likely she was just an inept arsonist.
Friedly’s son smelled smoke, and then saw it. He was pretty looped on the hot chocolate, but not too far gone to think. This kid got himself and his sister, who was quite lethargic but till conscious, out of the home. He then called 911 on his cell phone, and adult neighbors wouldn’t let the boy go back in to get his mother – instead, they went inside and got her out. She’d already decided not to die and had made her way to the first floor of the home.
All three Friedlys were taken to hospitals. Our young hero was evaluated and released, but his little sister was transferred to a Detroit hospital for further evaluation because she had ingested a pretty big dose of whatever it was in that hot chocolate and needed to be watched. I don’t have information on whether she’s out yet. The boy is now in the care of family members.
The motive seems to be that Friedly was depressed about losing her job and having financial problems. I can understand the desperation that can come in a financial crisis – but I cannot understand killing one’s children. If she felt the need to off herself, she could have done that without ever going up to the school for those kids. The selfishness of suicide is bad enough. To try to take her kids with her, and by fire… wow. I just don’t have the words for that level of wrong.
Tanya Laura Friedly was arrested on Tuesday night at a hospital, where she was kept briefly for observation. She has been charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder and one count of arson and is being held on a million dollars bond.
Unamused Cat said “Bah!” in our forums.
12:36 pm on November 22nd, 2008
I bet she was on antidepressants. Gotta love antidepressants. I think I’d rather be depressed than take them.
1:39 pm on November 22nd, 2008
What do you want to bet she wasn’t going to bother to pick the kids up on the way out?
2:09 pm on November 22nd, 2008
How very uncharitable of you! I bet she was going to be tragically unable to find them in the smoke and murk.
Give the boy a medal!
2:52 pm on November 22nd, 2008
Thank God, there was one smart one in the bunch, He acted swiftly, saved his sister and called 911. He is a real Hero.
The house was for sale and it was probly going to go into default. Because she couldnt make the payments on it. That hardly justifys murdering your whole damn family over it.
5:47 pm on November 22nd, 2008
Isn’t it odd how people’s names sometimes match their crimes? I wonder if she got the idea of burning the house because her name is FRIEDly?
Would she have drowned them her name had been Soaker?
9:10 pm on November 22nd, 2008
I noticed that, too. Very ironic.
My husband and I were discussing this one and my husband says that 1 million dollars bond is “too harsh.†I say, screw that. I’ve been depressed before. Hell, I suffer from chronic depression and have been on medication for it for 15 years. (And I’ve been on medication that actually helps the depression rather than exacerbates it for 8 years.) I’ll more than likely be on the medication for the rest of my life. If anyone understands depression and suicide attempts, it’s me. What I do NOT understand is trying to commit a murder-suicide, especially one by fire! Shooting, stabbing, poisoning…if they’re done by someone competent, it’s over in a second. But fire…it eats you away and one second on fire seems like years. It’s a horrible way to go. (Being burned alive is one of my worst fears.) For a mother to try to do that to her own children…no excuse.
I wonder if her children will ever be able to trust her again? I know that if she were my mother, I wouldn’t. Not in a hundred years. I tip my hat to that brave boy who saved himself and his sister. He did a good thing when he didn’t finish all of the cocoa. Even though the mother had second thoughts and was trying to find her way out of the inferno, I honestly doubt she was planning on saving her children, too. Call me cold, call me heartless, call me whatever you want…anyone selfish enough to do what she did doesn’t give a crap about anyone else.
9:19 pm on November 22nd, 2008
Another selfish woman who felt the need to take her children with her in her suicide attempt. She actually pulled them out of school where they were safe , drugged them and then set the house on fire. Maybe I am being cold and heartless, but I view suicide as a selfish act. I don’t care how depressed you are , do something about it. You want to kill yourself , fine go ahead and do it, but spare the children . I can feel some sympathy for people who are so lost that they think their only alternative is to end their lives. But when they decide that they will take their children with them, I have no sense of empathy or sympathy for them at all. It is the ultimate act of selfishness. Thank God the son was able to save himself and his sister. I hope the children will find the support and love they are going to need .
9:21 pm on November 22nd, 2008
I read her name at first as Tanya Friendly , but I see it is Tanya Friedly. How ironic .
10:25 pm on November 22nd, 2008
Stupid, selfish bitch! There was no need to take the kids down with her. They probably would be better off without her in their life. Lock her in a gosoline soaked barn and give her a match. She deserves it.
1:32 am on November 23rd, 2008
I don’t think her bond is to high I think there should even be one..She planned this whole thing out, even took the time to drive to school and pick up the kids..She drugged her kids..I say lock the bitch up and throw away the key..No death penality for this one it would be an easy out for her..Lock her up for life and make her think about it every day..Better yet..Lock her up but take her daily to a burn unit of a hospital and make her watch the patients being treated..
7:23 am on November 23rd, 2008
I totally know what you mean. I can understand depression, and I can understand wanting to die MYSELF, but it is a WHOLE DIFFERENT THING to want to MURDER. Especially your children. It makes it extremely hard to feel any remorse for her.
God, those poor children. At least the son can be proud of his heroic actions! Great job kid! I hope the two aren’t badly damaged for life.. and I hope they find someone who can fully take care of them.
9:02 pm on November 23rd, 2008
Throw away the key on this one — that mug shot does not even whisper “remorse.” (wtf?)
9:14 pm on November 23rd, 2008
I think that’s her driver’s license photo. I know in my state, it’s a blue background.
12:26 am on November 24th, 2008
I say serve the Bitch up some Hot Chocolate, laced with lots of arsenic!
11:45 am on November 24th, 2008
I was wondering about that because she obviously is smiling (not that other’s haven’t), but it just seemed odd is all.
6:34 pm on November 24th, 2008
Can someone tell me if there’s a major religion that DOESN’T forbid suicide? I know that, as far as most Catholicism (and most of Christianity) is concerned, suicide will disqualify you from heaven…So where do these people get this idea?
11:10 pm on November 24th, 2008
I’m about 40 minutes from Warren, MI and it always seems that much creepier when the stories hit close to home like that. Things are very very hard for many people in Michigan (and many other places, too) right now, this is yet another horrible sign of the times. There is absolutely no excuse for this mom and I am horrified that someone could go down like this and (attempt to) take their kids with. I feel sick because I made my little boy hot cocoa today too for the first time this season- those poor children- thinking their mom was being loving and wanting some special time with them. I seriously am having a chest pain right now! Their little heads are going to be so messed up forever, I wish I could ease their pain somehow. My heart breaks for those kids.
1:01 am on November 25th, 2008
i got an entire week’s paycheck that says if the kids were passed out from the poisoned hot chocolate, mommy dearest would’ve kept moving right past them and left them to burn when she decided not to die.
2:27 am on September 12th, 2009
Not sure if anyone remembers or care but here’s an update. Wish they would’ve included her sentencing guidelines.
2:28 am on September 12th, 2009
http://www.wwmt.com/articles/mich-1366892-woman-setting.html
5:06 am on September 12th, 2009
Thanks you for the update, Maureen
I still thank whatever power looked out for those children that day. The son is a hero.
If she’s pleased no contest it is because she knows she would never get a pass on her actions. It’ll be interesting to see what the final verdict is when she is sentenced mid-October……..
5:07 am on September 12th, 2009
*pleaded
10:35 pm on October 16th, 2009
Tanya Friedly drugged and attempted to burn her kids. Her actions and her physical appearance are eerily similar to Andrea Yates, the mom who drowned her five kids. See the picture of Yates at: http://crime.about.com/od/current/p/andreayates.htm
Yates, like Friedly, was being treated for depression. Yates was prescribed a long list of drugs such as the anti-psychotics Risperdal and Zyprexa as well as the anti-depressants Paxil and Effexor. It is this last drug, Effexor that she was on when she drowned all five children and that drug now carries a Black Box warning that it can cause not just suicidal ideation but also homicidal ideation. It is widely accepted that such drugs played a key role in mass murder events like Columbine and Red Lake.
Clearly Tanya Friedly was on various psychiatric medications. A Sept 11 Detroit News story quotes her mom as saying “her daughter may have suffered a breakdown last fall after she began taking new medications for depression and anxiety, her boyfriend lost his job and she was faced with losing her home to foreclosure.” Anti-depressants and anti-psychotics are almost always involved in this kind of senseless violence where people are scratching their heads trying to figure out what makes people do these things.
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