JUDGE TO GET NEW PLAN FOR CARROLL CHILDREN
JUDGE TO GET NEW PLAN FOR CARROLL CHILDREN
September 10, 1993
Jim Dillon
Dayton Daily News
James Carroll, the Cedarville youth charged with delinquency by reason of involuntary manslaughter in his adopted sister's death, is willing to live with family friends if a judge lets two other adopted siblings return home from foster care.
John H. Rion of Dayton, an attorney for the Carroll family, said he will ask Visiting Judge Richard T. Cole to approve the move during a conference with Cole and Greene County prosecutors this afternoon. "James is anxious to get this matter behind him. He's strong and willing to do whatever it takes to reunite the family," Rion said.
Last month, Cole granted custody of Samuel Carroll, 5, and Isaiah Carroll, 11, to Greene County Children Services. The agency had requested custody of the disabled children after James, 17, was charged in connection with the bleach-burning death of 6-year-old Hannah Carroll last September.
Cole also placed James on home detention and let another adopted brother, 10-year-old Hosea, remain in the home.
Hannah's death was the first of five among 10 adopted children of Timothy and Kathleen Carroll. Authorities consider all but one of the deaths suspicious.
On Wednesday, prosecutors filed documents in Greene County Juvenile Court stating that 12-year-old Josiah Carroll was smothered to death in June and that an additional charge is being considered against James.
In the documents, Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Suzanne Schmidt said Dr. Michael Balko, a former medical examiner who specializes in children's brain and nervous system disorders, reviewed numerous reports and concluded that Josiah was smothered. But Balko wants to see some of Josiah's organs or at least tissue samples before issuing a final report, Schmidt said.
On Thursday, Schmidt said Balko won't be able to do that until late this month after he returns from a lengthy forensic conference.
Nevertheless, prosecutors are seeking an emergency removal of Hosea and a delay in James' trial, now set for Sept. 20.
Rion said he will urge Cole to let James move in with family friends, keep Hosea at home and return Samuel and Isaiah to the Carrolls. He will argue against a delay in James' trial unless prosecutors have "a legitimate reason for a continuance."
"We're eager to try this case as soon as possible," Rion said. "The case (against James) is not well-founded."
Kathleen Carroll called the prosecutor's latest maneuvers "absurd." She also supports letting James leave if the other children can return or stay home.
"If James is doing home detention someplace else, there wouldn't be a reason for the other children not to come back," Carroll said. "Not that I want James gone or think for a single moment that he's guilty of anything, but he's a young man and he would understand that he's with people we know and trust."