Two defendants in the killing of a 7-year-old boy who was found dead in the closet of an Oakley home, restrained with duct tape, have been found competent to stand trial.
During separate hearings Sept. 15 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Judge Christian Jenkins found Nessa Keaney and Kirby Rankin mentally competent, meaning they can understand the nature of the proceedings and assist in their defense.
Keaney, 23, and Rankin, 33, face charges including aggravated murder, conspiracy and child abuse in the death of 7-year-old William Evans-Ellis.
William’s mother, 38-year-old Kaitlin Evans, is also facing the same charges. Competency has not been raised as an issue in Evans' case, and she did not appear in court on Sept. 15.
Keaney is being held
in the psych unit at the Hamilton County Justice Center and is confined to a cell 23 hours a day, Keaney’s attorney, Jeffrey Adams, said in court.
Rankin’s attorney has previously said that Rankin has a history of mental illness.
All three are being held at the jail on $1.1 million bonds.
The three lived together and according to authorities acted as coparents to William, whose body was found Aug. 6 in the closet of a house on Madison Road.
The boy died from blunt force trauma to his head, but investigators said he had numerous bruises on his body, burns as well as evidence he had been choked while held underwater.
Police went to the home after a woman who identified herself as William’s mother walked into an emergency room and told hospital staff her partner was trying to kill her and had taken her son.
Keaney has a medical condition that could cause parts of the skeleton to “come out of joint” and damage internal organs, Adams said. There have been requests for extra blankets and pillows, but jail officials are waiting for medical documentation.
A trial date has not been set.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 2 charged in killing of boy found in closet are competent to stand trial
