Mentally ill, so they put her in jail. Some agencies, or individuals, failed to do their jobs, if this article is accurate... ~~ Neighbors reported that Sunantha made regular trips to Mound City National Cemetery, about 50 miles south of her home, in Pulaski County, to visit her husband’s grave. But she stopped making those trips after becoming concerned that someone was following her at the cemetery, said longtime neighbor Michele Forby. Forby said Sunantha’s behavior had grown more unusual in the years preceding her death. For instance, Forby said Sunantha called her over one day concerned that there was a Satanic message on her garage floor, when it was clearly an oil leak from the car. She would point out run-of-the-mill bug bites on her arms, and was convinced that someone had been breaking into her home at night and torturing her while she slept. When these things happened, Forby said she encouraged Sunantha to go to the doctor and get help. Knowing her mental state was fragile, Forby said she checked in on her on occasion. “This is really sad,” Forby said. “It bothers me that people think that no one cared about her.” But her behavior continued to grow more bizarre, and culminated on Dec. 18, 2012, when Forby said she looked outside as the dogs were stirred up, and saw Sunantha in the driveway swinging an ax and tapping Forby’s car with it. Forby, concerned for the safety of her small child at home, called 911, and when the police arrived, Sunantha allegedly tangled with the cops. She was arrested that day on three felony charges, including aggravated battery of a peace officer, and aggravated assault of a peace officer with a weapon. That was in addition to two misdemeanor charges for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. *** Simmons spent 10 days at the Jackson County Jail, records show. Forby said she got a call during that time asking if she would drop charges against Sunantha. “I said I would at that point, because they said she was in jail on a hunger strike and refusing to eat. They wanted to take her to the hospital for medical treatment. I didn’t want her in jail to start with. I just wanted her to get help for her mental illness. I never heard from her again.” Charges had been dropped at the time against Sunantha, presumably as she was hospitalized for mental health treatment, but the State’s Attorney’s Office retained the right to pursue the charges at a later date, explained Jackson County State’s Attorney Michael Carr. According to records entered by the Jackson County Circuit Clerk in the electronic court tracking system Judici, Sunantha was at one point described in the record as “wacko” during a court appearance and a mental health evaluation was ordered. Records also show she was summoned to court, in the early part of 2013, and a warrant was issued for her arrest on March 15, 2013, after she failed to appear. An entry dated Tuesday in her Judici file read: “She be dead. File closed. Order canceling warrant filed.” Carr said he was not intimate with the particulars of the case, but said the law’s involvement with people with severe mental illness is a common, sad occurrence. More:
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 22:19:41 +0000
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