Over the weekend, the Facebook sub-universe of family court reformers exploded with grief and anger when another parent took her life after being forcibly separated from her son by the system.
The news of North Caolina woman Jessica Leigh’s suicide spread throughout the community and beyond. Some examples are below.
The story on Facebook was that Jessica lost her son because North Carolina child protective services (CPS) responded to false allegations. He was removed unfairly, and the court system refused to hear the truth.
Last Tuesday, her appeal to the (unnamed) Supreme Court was denied and this was her final hope.
With that hope lost, she took her life. Below is part of a post she made from February 2026.
I am not okay, and I don’t know how much longer I can carry this alone. I am so lonely it feels physical.
The silence in this house is loud and cruel. Every corner reminds me of my son, of the life I lost, of who I used to be before everything shattered.
I miss him in a way that steals my breath. I wake up already hurting. I go to sleep begging for rest that never comes.
I reach out and there is nothing.
I’ve never felt loneliness like this.
No calls. No messages. No one asking if I’m still standing.
When I stop reaching out, it’s like I disappear completely
There were red flags right away. While Jessica seemed to have supporters, no one knew the details of her story.
There was no paper trail, no documents on-line, and Leigh wasn’t her last name.
The story quickly fell apart.
First, she lost her son after she was found non-responsive and overdosing, according to a November 6, 2022, Wingate, North Carolina Police Department press release.
Jessica Leigh has gone by several names- Jessica Crump, Jessica Lee Lowe, and Jessica Lowe Magilocca among them.
She has an extensive rap sheet, according to North Carolina court records.
That rap sheet includes at least one incident after her overdose, a 2023 larceny charge.
She also has several mugshots.
Those mug shots don’t look like the same person as the photos on her Facebook page.
Then, the social media nuclear bomb dropped. Her death was initially announced on her Facebook page by someone claiming to be her sister. That post- along with many other posts- is gone.
But by Sunday, her sister was on social media saying her suicide was a hoax, and it wasn’t the first time she faked her death.
There was a kernel of truth in Jessica’s story. She was recently denied at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The denial confirmed that the 2022 incident led to her son’s removal, however it was not the first time that CPS was in her life.
The Court of Appeals ruling was on a narrow issue- that the transcripts weren’t full- so she could appeal the merits of the termination.
Furthermore, there is still the North Carolina Supreme Court and US Supreme Court, so even that part of the story is based on a false premise.
An advocate, Dallas Wielenga, announced on Facebook that he will interview her this Friday.
This may be why she pulled this stunt. Jessica Lowe went from an insignificant mother who lost her son because she overdosed to an internet sensation.
Despite the cacophony of lies, she has a base of supporters who will believe anything she says.
She has a base, something she never had before.
