If you’ve been watching the Lindsay Clancy trial, you may have noticed that one of the prosecutors is wearing an unusual hair accessory for court: a bow.

Clancy, 36, is accused of killing her three young children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan, in January 2023. Clancy has admitted to the killings, and the question at the heart of the trial is whether she can be held criminally responsible.

Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, has argued that she was overmedicated and lacked criminal responsibility due to mental illness, including postpartum depression and psychosis. She was left paralyzed from a jump from a second-story window the night the children were killed.

But the prosecutors, Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham, say the murders were pre-meditated. Buckingham called Clancy a “controlling, meticulous and manipulative” mother who committed the murders because she could no longer control “every little detail” of her and her family’s life.

Buckingham made the accusation while wearing a hair bow, which left some trial watchers wondering why.

Why is the prosecutor wearing a hair bow in Lindsay Clancy trial?

In the prosecution’s opening statement on July 27, Buckingham noted how Cora, Clancy’s 5-year-old daughter, liked to wear large bows in her hair.

Since then, she’s worn several hair bows, which some have seen as a tribute to Cora and others have viewed as a tactic to sway the jury.

The conversation has been particularly contentious on social media. The True Crime Mama Facebook account, which has over 835,000 followers, posted, “Who else thinks Shanan Buckingham and her bows are an absolute unprofessional mess of a prosecutor?”

The post received over 3,500 likes and over 900 comments of people debating the choice.

Who is Lindsay Clancy prosecutor Shanan Buckingham?

Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham has worked at the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office since 2011, according to her LinkedIn page.

She serves as chief of the Family Protection Unit at the district attorney’s office, her profile says.

Buckingham earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Stonehill College in 2003 and her Juris Doctorate from Northeastern University School of Law in 2011.

She was admitted to the Massachusetts bar on Nov. 14, 2011, according to the state’s Board of Bar Overseers.

USA Today Network reporting contributed to this story.