National Roundup

Kentucky
Lawyer for mom jailed in son’s slaying requests mental check
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An attorney is requesting a mental health evaluation for a Kentucky mother charged with murder in the death of her 10-year-old son whose body was found in the trunk of her car last month.

The attorney for Kaitlin R. Higgins, 28, asked a judge Tuesday to order a mental health evaluation to determine whether the defendant was competent to stand trial, The Courier-Journal reported. Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry is set to consider the motion next week, according to court records.

Louisville police were sent to Higgins’ home in late April after a caller reported seeing her with a gun and a dead boy wrapped in a blanket, according to an arrest report obtained by news outlets.

Officers found Higgins on a blood-stained porch before opening the vehicle’s trunk and finding the child’s body inside, the arrest citation said. Higgins told police she shot her son after trying to cut out his tongue, according to the citation.

Attorney Ashlea N. Hellman wrote in a court filing that Higgins “appears to struggle to appreciate the serious nature of these charges,” and that she does not “have a rational understanding of the proceedings against her.”

Hellman added that Higgins sometimes responds in an “inappropriate” manner when discussing the case, including “laughing at random.” Higgins has also allegedly said “bad spirits” caused “certain actions in the house,” and said that a window there was “cursed,” according to Hellman.

Higgins is charged with murder, criminal abuse and tampering with physical evidence.

Idaho
Judge rules teen will face murder charge as adult
LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A judge has ordered a 16-year-old boy stand trial as an adult on a murder charge after police believe he was involved in a home invasion and fatal shooting in Lewiston earlier this year.

Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge Michelle Evans said Tuesday that there was probable cause to believe that Demetri X. Ewing was one of the two people who rode bikes from a motel on Jan. 8 to a home in Lewiston, broke in, shot Samuel Johns, then rode back to the motel, The Lewiston Tribune reported  Wednesday.

Magistrate Judge Sunil Ramalingam made the same determination on Friday after a preliminary hearing for Ewing’s father, Clyde K. Ewing, 43. Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman said Tuesday that his office is considering filing a motion to join the two cases.

Greg Rauch is representing Demetri X. Ewing, and Rick Cuddihy is representing Clyde Ewing.

Rauch on Tuesday challenged the credibility of Patricia Labombard, who testified that two people dressed head-to-toe in dark clothing broke into Johns’ home, held her at gunpoint and attempted to restrain her with zip ties while the shooting happened in another room.

Labombard testified that she, Johns and two other people were smoking marijuana before the shooting, and Rauch questioned whether she could rely on her memory. Labombard said she could.

Rauch also questioned Labombard about her statements to police that the person who held her at gunpoint sounded like a young girl and was about 4 or 5 inches (10 or 12 centimeters) taller than Ewing.

Lewiston Police Department Detective Brian Erickson said an Idaho State Police crime lab report found a shell casing in a backpack in the Ewings’ motel room matched the shell casings found at the murder scene.

Rauch objected to the admission of that report, but the judge overruled the objection.

Evans also found that video surveillance shows a cohesive progression and timeline of two darkly dressed people leaving the area near the Ewings’ motel room on bikes. Rauch also unsuccessfully objected to the video evidence.

Louisiana
Suspect in Elvis impersonator’s death ruled incompetent
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A suspect in the death of a Louisiana-based Elvis Presley impersonator was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial Wednesday.

The Advocate  newspaper reports that the ruling from a judge in New Orleans came after a psychiatrist testified that Trace Pigott, 28, has a long history of serious mental illness.

Pigott faces a second-degree murder charge in Livingston Parish in the death of his stepfather, Jason Baglio of Independence.

Baglio, 47, was found shot to death in Denham Springs early on the morning of May 8. Trace Pigott was arrested hours later in New Orleans. Few details about the case have been released. The Advocate reported that he was being held in New Orleans pending Wednesday’s sanity hearing. Online court records show he also faces weapon and drug possession charges filed after his arrest in New Orleans.

New Orleans Magistrate Court Judge Juana Marine Lombard ordered that Pigott receive psychiatric treatment at the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson until he is deemed competent.

She ruled after two forensic psychologists testified that they interviewed Pigott last week and found him too delusional and paranoid to stand trial.
Authorities have said Pigott’s father was present when Baglio was shot and faces a charges of being a principal to second-degree murder.

Oklahoma
Feds seize 68 big cats from ‘Tiger King Park’
THACKERVILLE, Okla. (AP) — Federal authorities have seized 68 big cats from an animal park in Oklahoma featured in Netflix’s “Tiger King.”

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that the seizure of the federally protected lions, tigers, lion-tiger hybrids and a jaguar as part of a court-approved agreement to resolve a DOJ complaint against Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe over the animals’ care.

The civil complaint, filed in November, accused the Lowes of recurring inhumane treatment and improper handling of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. The couple has received numerous citations for failing to properly care for the animals following three inspections of the Tiger King Park in Thackerville since December 2020.

During a hearing last week, a judge found the couple in contempt for failing to comply with court orders to employ a qualified veterinarian and establish a program of veterinary care for the animals. Daniel Card, an attorney for the couple, told a federal judge that the Lowes “want out completely.”

“They don’t want to fight this anymore. They don’t want to do it,” Card told the judge.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid said in a statement that the DOJ is working to ensure the animals are sent to “responsible animal preserves where they can be safely maintained rather than exploited.”