Mother found competent to stand trial in daughter’s death

Published 10:24 am Friday, July 31, 2015

ST. PAUL— A judge in Ramsey County has ruled a mother charged with drowning her 6-year-old daughter is competent to stand trial.

Twenty-five-year-old Kayla Jones was civilly committed as mentally ill and dangerous in April and has been a patient at Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter. Another evaluation was done and Judge Elena Ostby Thursday found Jones competent to proceed with criminal charges against her.

Azaria Jones died in St. Paul in December 2014. Jones told police she put her daughter in the tub to “save her from this world.”

Email newsletter signup

Jones is due back in court Aug. 31.