Two psychologists approve insanity defense

A mentally ill woman who told police she was trying to "kill the demons" when she stabbed her 2-year-old son to death in 2007 may avoid criminal prosecution.

Two psychologists who evaluated Jessica Warren have determined that she didn't understand the nature or consequence of her actions at the time of the killing, said Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis.

That could mean Warren is not guilty by reason of insanity.

Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Michael Andrews will review the psychological findings at a March 13 bench trial and decide whether to find Warren not guilty. If he does, Warren, 26, will remain at the Florida State Hospital until she is deemed well enough for release to a halfway house, Halkitis said.

A family member found Jeremiah Oshinkanlu's body on June 14, 2007, when he went to the Maple Street duplex Warren shared with her son. The relative also found Warren bleeding and crying in the living room. Investigators said she tried to kill herself after stabbing the child.

Two days later, investigators arrested Warren on a first-degree, or premeditated, murder charge. The charge was downgraded to second-degree murder when a grand jury indicted Warren a month later.

Second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

A judge declared Warren incompetent to stand trial in July 2007 and ordered her sent to the state hospital near the Florida-Georgia border, where she has lived since.

She was ruled competent in December, but was allowed to remain at the state hospital because of her fragile mental condition.

Normally, defendants are brought to a jail to await trial once they're found competent.

Warren's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Violet Assaid, said a stay in the Land O' Lakes Jail would have been disaster for her client.

Assaid said Warren, a diagnosed schizophrenic, has attempted suicide several times at the state hospital. She is heavily medicated and would have been a high risk for another suicide attempt if confined in the jail.

A not-guilty verdict would be about the only positive way to end such a tragic case, Assaid said.

"Jessica Warren is not a criminal," she said. "She is a very sick girl, and no one would have ever chosen to have the life she's had and the illness she's had. She's been haunted by it since she was 10 years old."