Competency evaluation set for aggravated murder suspect

YOUNGSTOWN

Judge Lou D'Apolito today granted a motion for a competency evaluation for an aggravated murder who attorneys said attempted suicide over the weekend in Mahoning County jail.

The motion came as trial was to begin today for James Jarrell, 35, who is charged in the July 7, 2015, stabbing death of his stepmother, Tina Jarrell, 55, in the kitchen of her Wellington Avenue on the West Side.

Judge D'Apolito also denied a motion by Jarrell's attorneys to withdraw.

Prosecutors opposed both motions. They did not mention how Jarrell tried to kill himself, but one of his wrists was wrapped in gauze.