AUSTINTOWN STABBING Grand jury to get grandmother's case

By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Detective Sgt. Ray Holmes stood from the witness seat and pointed at the woman accused of stabbing 7-year-old Zabrina Battles.
"Here I am! Right here!" exclaimed Mildred Battles, 74, of Westchester Drive, from her chair at the defense table in Mahoning County Court. She is charged with attempted murder and felonious assault in the stabbing. Zabrina, her granddaughter, was stabbed three times in the chest the evening of Feb. 6 at the apartment they shared. Zabrina has since been released from the hospital and is in foster care.
Holmes testified during a preliminary court hearing Thursday that Zabrina told him she had been stabbed by her grandmother. Ken Cardinal, assistant county prosecutor, asked Holmes to stand and point to the grandmother, leading to Battles' outburst.
At the close of the hearing, Judge David D'Apolito bound the case over to a county grand jury. If indicted by the grand jury, Battles will be tried in county common pleas court.
Thursday's hearing included testimony from several police officers and Eugene F. Coates, Zabrina's stepfather.
The victim's mother, Zipporah Coates, 37, of the same address, was home at the time of the stabbing. She has been arrested on charges of felony child endangerment, and the case against her is pending.
Officer Kathy Dina testified Thursday that when she arrived at the home soon after the stabbing, Battles "rambled on about the devil and the devil had to do it."
"No I didn't. She's lying," Battles said, interrupting the testimony.
Stepfather's testimony
Eugene Coates said he was sitting in his bed playing a video game when he heard Battles "holler" from across the hall.
He said he came out of his room and found Zabrina standing in the hall.
"I said, 'What's wrong?' She said, 'There's a knife in me,'" he testified. "I looked down and there was blood running down her."
Coates said he went into the girl's room and saw a bloody knife sticking out of a stuffed horse on her bed. When he came back to Zabrina, she passed out.
Battles was in Zabrina's bedroom at the time, Coates testified. He noted, however, that he couldn't remember exactly where she was standing or how she acted.
"I never suspected it out of Miss Mildred," Coates said. He added that Battles would often buy things for Zabrina.
"I have no reason to harm my granddaughter," Battles said from the defense table during the hearing.
Girl spoke of beatings
But Holmes testified that Zabrina told him Battles beat her and yelled at her often. When questioned by Cardinal, Coates said that Battles would sometimes talk about devils at home.
"When she starts talking like that and I'm downstairs, I go upstairs and shut my door," he said. "I just don't like hearing it."
Battles' attorney, Paul Scarsella, had asked Judge D'Apolito to delay Thursday's preliminary hearing so a hearing could be held to determine if his client is mentally competent to stand trial. Judge D'Apolito denied the request, stating that a competency hearing could be held in common pleas court.
hill@vindy.com