In a chilling new twist that has rocked the quiet suburbs of Chicago and northwest Indiana, the treating psychologist who worked with accused triple killer Jenna Strouble for years has finally stepped forward – and what she reveals paints a heartbreaking portrait of a woman consumed by darkness long before the bullets flew. Jenna Strouble, the 30-year-old St. John, Indiana mom charged with nine counts of first-degree murder, had been battling severe, long-term depression for years, according to the doctor who treated her in private sessions. But it was her all-consuming, desperate fight to regain and keep full custody of her two young children – little Ella, 4, and Rhett, 3 – that may have pushed her over the edge into the unthinkable.

The psychologist, speaking exclusively for the first time since the March 22, 2026 bloodbath, told investigators and close sources that Strouble’s mental health struggles were no secret to those treating her. “She carried a heavy darkness for a very long time,” the doctor revealed in an emotional interview. “Depression wasn’t just a phase for Jenna. It was a constant shadow that affected every part of her life – her relationships, her ability to parent, and especially her fear of losing her children forever.” The expert described Strouble as a woman who had voluntarily surrendered custody of Ella and Rhett to her on-again, off-again boyfriend Jacob Lambert and his family in the past, only to claw her way back to regaining them recently. That desperate reclamation, the psychologist believes, became the ticking time bomb that detonated in one of the most calculated and horrifying family annihilations in recent memory.

It started, prosecutors say, with a seemingly innocent text. Strouble reached out to Jacob Lambert, 32 – the father of her kids and her occasional intimate partner – suggesting they “hang out and go for a drive.” He climbed into her car, reclined the passenger seat, and let her give him what he thought was a relaxing back massage with a massage gun. For nearly 20 minutes she worked the device across his shoulders while he lay face-down, completely unaware that a loaded Glock 19 with a suppressor was hidden under the seat. Then, in cold blood, Strouble allegedly held the real gun to the back of his head for eight terrifying minutes before pulling the trigger. One shot. Execution-style. Jacob never saw it coming.

But the horror didn’t end in that parked car on a quiet road near Sauk Village. Strouble allegedly drove straight to the Forde family home on Norway Trail in unincorporated Crete Township, Will County, Illinois – the very house where Jacob lived with his mother Stacy Forde, 54, and stepfather Patrick Forde, 55. When Patrick opened the door, she opened fire. Seventeen bullets tore through him. Stacy was hit three times near the front entrance. Both grandparents were left dead on their own doorstep – the very people who had stepped up to raise Ella and Rhett when Strouble’s depression made it impossible for her to cope.

Now, the psychologist’s bombshell revelations are forcing everyone to ask the question no one wants to face: Was this triple murder the tragic climax of a mother’s desperate custody battle fueled by years of untreated mental anguish?

Court documents and Strouble’s own alleged statements to deputies after her arrest paint a picture of a woman unraveling. She admitted she planned the encounter with Jacob that day and went into it with the clear “intention” to harm him. When asked why she targeted his parents, she reportedly said it was at least partly because she didn’t want them raising her children. She even confessed to considering killing her own parents out of fear that her kids wouldn’t be safe in their care. Prosecutors say she asked her sister to take the children afterward – a cold, calculated move that screams premeditation.

But behind the charges lies a deeper story of pain that the psychologist says had been building for years. Strouble had a documented history of mental health crises. In January 2025, deputies were called to her home for a domestic battery incident that turned into a full mental health intervention. She was involuntarily committed at that time, a terrifying low point that highlighted how fragile her stability had become. She had been on medication for depression and had expressed suicidal thoughts so severe that at one point she talked about jumping out a window with her children – a horrifying detail that now haunts everyone who knew her.

The psychologist described Strouble as a woman who loved her kids fiercely but felt overwhelmed and inadequate. “She desperately wanted to be the primary parent again,” the doctor explained. “Regaining custody wasn’t just a legal goal for Jenna – it became an obsession that consumed her. Every time she felt Jacob or his parents were criticizing her parenting or ‘overbearing,’ it triggered deeper depressive episodes. She saw them as threats to her bond with Ella and Rhett.” That fear, combined with the on-and-off intimate relationship she still shared with Jacob, created a perfect storm of resentment, paranoia, and emotional collapse.

Friends and family members who knew the couple described their relationship as turbulent at best. Jacob had recently been working on his own sobriety and trying to be a stable father. Strouble, meanwhile, had struggled to maintain consistent contact with the children during the periods when custody was with the Fordes. When she finally got them back, insiders say she became hyper-vigilant, terrified that any slip-up would mean losing them again. The psychologist believes this custody desperation mixed with long-term depression created what she called “a perfect psychological trap” – one where Strouble’s mind twisted everyday co-parenting tensions into an existential threat.

“She wasn’t thinking rationally in those final weeks,” the doctor continued. “Depression can distort reality to the point where the people who are actually helping with the children start to look like enemies. Jenna’s fear of losing Ella and Rhett again was so profound that it may have overridden every other part of her thinking.” The expert stopped short of excusing the alleged crimes but made it clear that untreated or poorly managed mental illness played a central role. “This tragedy didn’t come out of nowhere. There were warning signs – the involuntary commitment, the suicidal ideation, the custody battles – that show how deeply Jenna was suffering.”

Now, with Strouble sitting in the Will County jail in Joliet facing life in prison, the two little children at the center of this nightmare are left without a father or paternal grandparents. Ella and Rhett are being cared for by extended family, but the psychological scars will last a lifetime. A church group and neighbors in both St. John and Crete Township have rallied with support, but nothing can erase the horror of March 22.

Strouble appeared in court earlier this week without an attorney at first, requesting a delay so her lawyer could be present. She has waived extradition and remains behind bars as prosecutors build what they call an airtight case of premeditated murder. But the psychologist’s first public comments have added a heartbreaking layer of human tragedy to the legal proceedings. This isn’t just about a vengeful ex, the doctor suggests – it’s about a mother whose long battle with depression and fierce love for her children collided in the most destructive way imaginable.

As the case heads toward trial, questions are mounting about whether more could have been done to intervene. Mental health experts watching from afar say Strouble’s story highlights the dangerous gaps in the system when custody disputes intersect with severe depression. “When a parent is fighting so hard to keep their kids while battling inner demons, the risk of catastrophic breakdown is real,” one forensic psychiatrist not involved in the case told sources. “Jenna’s psychologist is right to speak out now. These stories need to be told so other families don’t end up the same way.”

For the Forde-Lambert family, the pain is unimaginable. Jacob was trying to rebuild. Stacy and Patrick were devoted grandparents who opened their home when needed. In one final cruel twist, Strouble allegedly drove Jacob’s body back to their doorstep before finishing the massacre inside – a deliberate act that prosecutors say shows she wanted the family to pay the ultimate price for whatever perceived wrongs she felt they had committed against her custody dreams.

The psychologist’s voice, breaking the silence for the first time, serves as both warning and lament. “Jenna was in pain for years,” she said. “Her desperation to hold onto her children was real and raw. But depression, when left unchecked, can turn that love into something unrecognizable and dangerous.” As Jenna Strouble awaits her day in court, the suburbs of Chicago and Indiana are left grappling with the same haunting question: How does a mother’s fight for her babies end in three coffins and two orphaned children?

The answer, it seems, lies somewhere in the dark intersection of mental illness, custody wars, and a single, fatal drive that no one – not even those closest to her – saw coming until it was far too late. The psychologist’s words may not bring back Jacob, Stacy, or Patrick, but they force us all to confront a truth too painful to ignore: sometimes the most dangerous threats aren’t on the streets – they’re hiding behind the eyes of someone we thought we knew.