MAHONING COUNTY Woman's restrictions lessened

Mary Moore's case will be re-evaluated in six months.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Boardman woman who killed her daughter is a step away from being released from a psychiatric hospital.
Judge Robert Lisotto of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ruled that Mary E. Moore's condition has stabilized to the point that she can leave the hospital for short, unsupervised trips with her family.
If she continues making progress, the next step in Moore's case would be her conditional release from the hospital. That means she could live at home but would still be subject to treatment and under the court's authority.
Under Ohio law, Moore's case will be evaluated again in six months.
Her attorney, John Dixon, could not be reached to comment.
Moore, 39, was committed to psychiatric care in 1999 after being found innocent by reason of insanity for killing her daughter, Stephanie.
Moore drowned the girl in the bathtub of the family's former home on Baymar Drive on the night before her seventh birthday in January 1998.
Response to treatment
At a hearing last week, doctors testified that Moore has responded well to treatment and has shown that she can be trusted in public, even around children.
Judge Lisotto ruled that Moore is still mentally ill, so she must remain in Heartland Behavioral Healthcare Center of Massillon.
Two separate evaluations, however, indicated that she should be subject to the least restrictive environment. That means she can leave the hospital for a day or for a weekend pass with her family.
Until now, Moore could leave the hospital only with staff members and for only up to four hours at a time.