McCready Blames OD on Pregnancy

Mindy McCready's sad-as-a-country-ballad life has taken another dramatic turn.

The 29-year-old Nashville songbird appeared in a Franklin, Tennessee, court on Monday and dropped a bombshell: She tried to commit suicide earlier this summer because she found out she was pregnant.

McCready was in court to explain a string of behavior that left her in the hospital and then in jail, and to appeal the terms of her bail.

The "Guys Do It All the Time" singer was arrested in Florida after officials in Williamson County, Tennessee, issued a warrant for her arrest. According to the warrant, McCready left the state without permission and failed to contact her probation officer during the month of July.

McCready said she went to Florida to be with her family after months of trouble.

Her downward spiral began a year ago, when she was charged with fraudulently obtaining the painkiller OxyContin.

McCready, who claimed she was trying to score the pills for a friend, eventually pleaded guilty and was slapped with a $4,000 fine, sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

On May 6, the former Nashville darling was stopped for speeding and wound up being charged with drunken driving and driving with a suspended license, which earned her first probation violation.

Two days after her DUI arrest, McCready was beaten and almost choked to death by her on-again, off-again boyfriend, William McKnight, 38, who allegedly ambushed the singer in her home. He was later charged with attempted murder as a result of the altercation.

Within a month, she was charged in Arizona on counts including unlawful use of transportation, unlawful imprisonment and hindering prosecution stemming from an incident involving a stolen pickup truck. The charges, she claimed, were a result of mistaken identity.

By the end of June, she learned she was with child, and that's when she took off to the Sunshine State. "I attempted to commit suicide after I found out," she told Judge Jeff Bivins, per the Nashville Tennessean. "I had just been through a horrible ordeal."

The father is said to be McKnight, who was in Florida at the time of her suicide attempt. He told police the couple had reconciled since the alleged assault. He also handed over her suicide note.

McCready spent several days hospitalized recovering from an overdose of pills. Her doctor asked her to enroll in a monthlong after-care program, further delaying her return to Tennessee.

But she was tracked down, arrested and jailed on Aug. 26. She was transferred to a Tennessee lockup a week later and was allowed out on $50,000 bond last Wednesday. Prosecutors said one of the reasons she was permitted to leave jail was because of complications in her pregnancy.

On Monday, McCready tried to persuade Bivins to relax the terms of her bail. But Bivins wouldn't budge and kept the restrictions intact. McCready must stay within 50 miles of Franklin, submit to random drug testing, wear an electronic ankle monitor, meet with a probation officer twice a week and remain in her home between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

McCready said the restrictions would prevent her from being a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show next week. Bivins said she could attend the taping as long as she notifies her probation officers in advance and returns promptly.

Bivins also ordered her to begin performing community service as agreed to under the terms of her 2004 plea bargain. McCready said she was under the impression she could give a benefit concert to satisfy the requirement, but Bivins said there was no such stipulation in her deal.

She's due back in Williamson County court Nov. 14 to face the probation-violation charges.

The singer has also missed two court dates in Arizona due to her hospitalization and subsequent jailing. A judge has rescheduled her arraignment for Oct. 3, but it's not clear if McCready will be permitted to leave Tennessee.