ASHLAND — Medical experts will examine the mental health of an Ashland County woman, accused of stabbing a cat to death, before the legal case proceeds.
April Parks, 44, changed her plea earlier this month from not guilty to “not guilty by reason of insanity” (NGRI) and asked for an examination to determine her competency to stand trial.
She faces a fifth-degree felony count of animal cruelty. The charge stems from an incident in which officials alleged she stabbed a black cat with a chef’s knife and covered it up with a towel.
Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell said deputies arrived to her Orange Township house on April 30 after receiving a 911 call. Callers said Parks was having “some sort of mental-health crisis,” he said during a May hearing.
Tunnell said when deputies arrived, they followed a blood trail into the kitchen. There, they found a black cat under a towel that had been stabbed several times.
Her case was set for an Aug. 6 jury trial. But Ashland County Common Pleas Court Judge Dave Stimpert granted the NGRI plea and the competency motion on July 23. That means the case will be delayed until officials rule on Parks’ mental health.
Court records show she is expected to be examined by professionals at The Center for Individual and Family Services in Mansfield.
Stimpert scheduled a competency hearing for Aug. 29.
Parks posted a $50,000 surety bond in May.
Jaceda Blazef, the attorney representing Parks, was not immediately available for comment.