The mother of the Byron woman who fatally shot her four daughters and herself in February filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Wyoming’s federal court.
Rhonda Coplen, mother of Tranyelle Harshman, filed a civil lawsuit against Cody-based Sage Psychiatry Services LLC, and against advanced practice registered nurse Krista Blough on claims that Blough sent Harshman home with ketamine.
Harshman, 32, shot her four young daughters, called 911, then turned the gun on herself Feb. 10 in her home in residential Byron.
Brailey Blackmer, 9, Brooke Harshman, almost 3, and Jordan Harshman, 2, died in the home.
Olivia Blackmer, 7, and Harshman both were hospitalized and remained alive for days after the incident, but they both ultimately died as well.
The toxicology from Harshman’s autopsy revealed both ketamine and clonazepam, an anti-anxiety drug, in her system.
Her husband told Cowboy State Daily that she’d been suffering from depression, post-partum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after suffering a traumatic incident at the hands of someone outside their family.
The five-person fatality shook Wyoming, where members of multiple communities launched prayer vigils for Olivia in her final six days.
The Claims
Coplen’s lawsuit complaint, filed by Sean Olson and Allison Pritchard of Olsen Personal Injury Lawyers, links the tragedy to Harshman’s psychiatry clinic and to Blough.
Blough knew of Harshman’s PTSD and post-partum depression and administered ketamine to her as psychiatric treatment, says the complaint.
“Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic with known risks of hallucinations, psychosis, and detachment from reality, especially in unsupervised or outpatient settings,” the document says.
It adds, “The applicable standard of care requires that ketamine be administered only in medically controlled settings with appropriate monitoring to mitigate risks of dissociation, psychosis, self-harm and harm to others."
The complaint alleges that Blough “prescribed and permitted or directed Ms. Harshman to self-administer ketamine at home without medical supervision or safeguards.”
On Feb. 10, says the complaint, Harshman ingested ketamine at her home.
It was in an altered or dissociative mental state induced by the drug, the complaint claims, that Harshman shot her four children and herself.
The complaint calls Blough’s prescribing and managing of the drug prescription “below the applicable standard of care,” negligent, and a result cause of all five deaths.
The document accuses Blough of negligently assessing whether Harshman was suitable for ketamine, allowing unsupervised at-home use of the drug, failing to monitor Harshman for adverse psychological reactions, failing to warn Harshman of “extreme risks of home use” and acting outside accepted safety protocols.
Coplen and the statutory beneficiaries of the deceased have suffered “devastating economic and non-economic harm,” says the complaint.
The Ask
The filing asserts:
• a negligence cause of action against Blough,
• a negligence cause of action against Sage Psychiatry Services LLC,
• a wrongful death cause of action against both,
• and a negligence/lack of informed consent cause of action against both.
Coplen is asking for general, special and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees and any other relief the court deems proper.
She’s also asking for a jury trial.
Blough and Sage Psychiatry did not immediately return voicemail requests for comment.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
