Judge rules man incompetent to stand trial in ’07 death

Judge rules man incompetent to stand trial in ’07 death

YOUNGSTOWN — A suspect in the choking death of a fellow North Side group home resident has been declared incompetent to stand trial.

Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court declared James R. DiCioccio, 50, incompetent, concurring with results of a psychological evaluation and the opinions of prosecuting and defense lawyers.

Based on police reports, Judge Krichbaum found there is clear and convincing evidence that DiCioccio committed the homicide and ordered him institutionalized at a hearing today.

DiCioccio will be housed at the Northcoast Behavioral Health Care Center in Cleveland. His competency will be re-evaluated in six months and at least every two years thereafter.

DiCioccio entered innocent and innocent by reason of insanity pleas to a murder charge in the March 11, 2007, strangulation death of Stephen A. Lawson, 34, a fellow resident of Illinois Manor, 135 Illinois Ave., a group home for mentally ill men.

After a fight, police found Lawson unconscious in a basement hallway at the group home. He died in St. Elizabeth Heath Center less than an hour later.

Lawson’s mother, Elaine Lawson of Euclid, filed a civil lawsuit Monday against DiCioccio; the defunct VanSickle Corp. that owned the home and closed it last July 1; the city, which licenses group homes; the county mental health board; the District XI Area Agency on Aging; Turning Point Counseling Services; and others.

The civil suit, which alleges the home negligently admitted and housed DiCioccio despite his violent tendencies, seeks more than $25,000 in damages and is assigned to Judge Maureen A. Sweeney.