Psychiatrist describes effects of using meth after grisly Green Bay murder
WARNING: Some people may find the details in this story disturbing.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WLUK) -- On Feb. 23, police were called to a west side home on Stony Brook Lane in Green Bay, where a horrific murder took place.
Officers found 25-year-old Shad Thyrion's severed head in a bucket.
Taylor Schabusiness has been charged in the case.
According to a criminal complaint, Schabusiness said her and Thyrion were using drugs and engaged in sexual play when she strangled Thyrion.
She says she then sexually abused him, dismembered his body and placed the body parts in multiple locations.
Schabusiness is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault.
She made her initial court appearance on Tuesday.
Her bond was set at $2 million cash.
According to the criminal complaint, Schabusiness admits to smoking marijuana and methamphetamine just before the alleged crimes took place.
In addition, Schabusiness says she “shot up” herself and Thyrion with Trazodone just before strangling him.
Trazodone is a medication used to treat anxiety and depression.
Dr. Gene Yang, a psychiatrist at Rogers Behavioral Health, says methamphetamine is a stimulant which causes physical damages to the brain's neurotransmitters.
"As a stimulant, what it does is it activates your brain. Like many other drugs of abuse, it can cause you to have an altered sense of reality and you can't think clearly," Yang said.
Yang says meth use can lead to significant violence.
"Again sort of just not really grasping what's going on accurately, that agitation, additional paranoia, things like that," Yang said.
Yang says with a high dose or consistent use of meth, someone could also develop psychosis.
"You're not able to really tell the difference between reality and what's not real in the world around you," Yang said.
Yang says drug use has increased significantly over the past several years and encourages anyone who is struggling to seek help.
