JACKIE COLON CASE Court weighs what to do with girl

The juvenile court judge will decide whether to place the girl in a mental institution and drop her charges.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The saga continues for a 16-year-old girl accused of killing a baby two years ago.
In November, Jackie Colon's case was moved from Mahoning County Juvenile Court to the county's probate court for determination of whether she should be committed to a mental institution.
The move followed a decision by Judge Theresa Dellick of juvenile court that Colon is not mentally competent to stand trial in the death of 3-month-old Alex Zalovcik in December 2000.
But after reviewing the matter, Judge Timothy P. Maloney of probate court decided he does not have jurisdiction in the matter and sent it back to juvenile court.
Now, Judge Dellick says she will make a decision on the girl's fate. A hearing will be in late January to decide whether Jackie should be committed to an institution and, if so, which one.
To rule on charge
Judge Dellick also will rule on whether the murder charge against the teenager should be dismissed because of her mental condition.
Judge Dellick said she believed probate court was the right venue for the case, which is why she moved it there.
"It was a case of first impressions," she said, explaining that she has never encountered a case like this one. "As far as I'm concerned, it was a procedural matter that two judges had to come to some sort of agreement on."
Jackie's attorney, Don L. Hanni Jr., said that given the girl's mental condition, he expects that the criminal charges against her will be dropped and she will be placed in an institution.
Besides being mentally ill, she has the mental capacity of a child, he said.
Until the January hearing, Jackie is being held in the county juvenile detention center, Hanni said.
She has been in state custody since she was 14, accused of throwing the baby out a second-floor window at her family's Roxbury Avenue home onto a concrete driveway below, then stabbing the infant more than 60 times.
The baby and his mother were spending the night at the Colon home.
Can't stand trial
Jackie was found mentally incompetent to stand trial in March 2001 and ordered to spend a year in treatment, which she did. A subsequent re-evaluation showed she had not been restored to competency.
Judge Dellick now will determine whether Jackie should be confined to an institution.
"That's the main issue here," the judge said.
bjackson@vindy.com