The Associated Press: Boy Not Competent for Fatal Fire Charges
GREENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A 10-year-old boy accused of deliberately starting a fire that killed his mother, younger sister and three other children was ruled not competent Tuesday to face juvenile counts of murder and arson.
Judge Michael McClurg dismissed the charges against Timothy Douglas Byers in Darke County Juvenile Court.
Police say the boy admitted setting the Sept. 16 fire in this western Ohio city but did not intend for anyone to die.
However, Byers' attorney, David Rohrer, has said his client denies the charges and was pressured into giving the purported confession.
Two psychologists, one hired by the court and the other by the prosecution, found that Byers did not have the developmental maturity to understand the proceedings or to aid his lawyers in his own defense.
"The evidence clearly shows he doesn't understand," McClurg said.
McClurg ordered the boy to perform 40 hours of community service, return to school and attend a fire safety class. The judge said he would review the case in six months. He declared Byers a ward of the state but left him in temporary custody of a grandmother.
The victims were the boy's mother, Chanan Palmer, 30, and his sister, Kaysha Minnich. Also killed were the children of housemate Christy Winans: Kayla Winans, 6, Je'Shawn Davis, 5, and Jasmine Davis, 3.
Dezirae Jones, an aunt of some of the victims, told the judge that she forgives Byers.
"But there are four children and an adult lady ... I will never be able to see them again," Jones said as tears ran down her face. "I wish we could figure out what happened."
