Decision about girl's mental status relieves mother

A baby was thrown from a second-story window and stabbed more than 60 times.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The mother of a girl accused in the December 2000 killing of an infant says that mental health officials have determined her daughter to be both mentally ill and mentally retarded.
"It's what I've been saying all along," a relieved Michele Colon said after a hearing Wednesday in the Mahoning County Juvenile Court. "Whether she can get help or just be controlled, I don't know."
Colon is the mother of 16-year-old Jackie Colon, who was charged with aggravated murder after the death of Alex Zalovcik. The baby was thrown from a second-story window of the Colons' Youngstown home and stabbed more than 60 times.
The hearing
Wednesday's closed hearing was scheduled to revisit the case and reconsider the girl's competency to stand trial.
Her mother said a psychiatrist and a psychologist have reported to the court that her daughter is both mentally ill and mentally retarded, based upon their evaluations. Details were not available because of the closed hearing.
Jackie was found incompetent to stand trial in March 2001 and was sent to a residential treatment facility in Oklahoma last October. She returned to Mahoning County this April and her competency is being re-evaluated.
Atty. Maridee Costanzo, Jackie's court-appointed guardian, said juvenile court Judge Theresa Dellick heard evidence during the hearing and will make a new ruling on competency within three weeks. She cited confidentiality and a gag order in the case, declining to comment further.
Timothy E. Franken, assistant county prosecutor, also declined to comment, saying all records from the confidential court proceeding have been sealed.
Jackie's defense attorney, Don L. Hanni, said a gag order should not prohibit Michele Colon from speaking out.
"The First Amendment to the Constitution gives us all the right to free speech, doesn't it?" he asked.
Objection to closing
Judge Dellick ruled that the hearing would be closed despite the objection in court of a Vindicator reporter. Also prohibited from the hearing was a friend of Michele Colon who has accompanied her throughout the case. The judge said the hearing was closed because it involved confidential medical records.
Michele Colon, who now lives in Austintown, did not sit with her daughter but was placed in the courtroom gallery.
The mother said she has tried to get help for Jackie but was stymied by various social service officials who said the girl was not eligible for certain services because she is not mentally retarded. She has sued various private and public health agencies in federal court, saying they did not give Jackie the services she needed before the killing took place.
"I thought it. I felt it in my heart," said the mother, who saw Jackie's development halt when she was about 7. "Somebody with credentials is saying what I said all along, out of education, not out of emotion."
Since the killing, the juvenile court, with help from various county agencies, has struggled to find proper placement for the girl. Ohio has no state-run treatment facilities for girls like Jackie and private facilities here have refused to admit her, officials have said.
"I don't know where she can go," Michele Colon said. "There's no place here and we can't create one overnight."
It is unclear why Jackie was brought back to Mahoning County from the Oklahoma facility.
Michele Colon has paid more than $500 per month toward the care of her child since the Oklahoma placement.
The mother said she is frustrated because the county is back to square one.
"My hands are tied, basically," she said. "I pay child support and that's it. I feel like I'm an outsider looking in.
"I really don't know what to do for my daughter."