ASHLAND — Was April Parks experiencing a psychotic break the day she killed her cat with a kitchen knife?
The question was at the center of a bench trial Tuesday that lasted seven hours as attorneys interrogated five witnesses, bringing April 30, 2024 — the day of the crime — into sharp focus.
But it won’t be until March 31 that Parks and the rest of the public discovers the outcome of Tuesday’s trial.
At the end of the trial, around 3:30 p.m., Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Dave Stimpert set another hearing on the matter for March 31, allowing attorneys in the case to submit written closing remarks.
Parks faces a charge of cruelty to companion animals, a fifth-degree felony. If found guilty, she faces up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
Tuesday’s entire hearing revolved around Parks’ state of mind that day. In July, Parks’ attorney, Jaceda Blazef, entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI).
Since then, the court has been trying to decide if Parks was of sound mind when she killed her cat, which she named “Precious.” The female was one of several Maine Coon cats Parks kept at the house as part of her dog- and cat-breeding business.
Jaceda Blazef, defense attorney for April Parks, listens as testimony is given during a bench trial for her client on Tuesday, March 11. 
Ashland County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Don Sims holds the knife that was used to kill April Parks’ cat during a March 11 bench trial at Ashland County Common Pleas Court. 
Attorneys Blazef and Ashland County prosecuting attorney Matt Metcalf huddle at Judge Dave Stimpert’s bench during a trial on March 11. 
Beth Jones, April Parks’ mother testifies on Parks’ behalf during a bench trial on March 11 at Ashland County Common Pleas Court. 
Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Dave Stimpert listens to testimony being given over Zoom during a March 11 bench trial. 
Ashland County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Don Sims listens to body camera footage during a March 11 bench trial.
Defense attorney Blazef and Ashland County Prosecutor Matt Metcalf did not dispute the facts of the case. The crux of the trial, attorneys said, is whether Parks knew the wrongfulness of the crime in the moment.
Metcalf said there were several factors that would show Parks’ knowledge of her wrongful actions.
Those factors include apologizing to sheriff deputies after admitting she killed the cat. Other factors: locking herself in a room for around 15 minutes as officers tried to talk to her; towels covering the lifeless cat on the counter; a bowl full of blood lying next to it.
“Someone doesn’t apologize if they don’t know the wrongfulness of what they’ve done,” Metcalf said.
But Blazef said those factors ignore the totality of the event. She said people who know wrongfulness clean up, or conceal, the crime scene. Instead, Parks left the cat on the counter. (Witnesses later testified the towels were placed there by Beth Jones, Parks’ mother.)
“This is a person who is struggling with a severe mental disease,” Blazef said.
The trial’s expert witness, Dr. Shannon Porter, agreed. Though she did not diagnose Parks as part of her evaluation, she testified Parks suffered from a psychotic break that day.
Porter acknowledged her opinion is rare. She said she’s performed around 1,500 of these types of evaluations over the course of her career.
“The large majority of the evaluations that I do — I’ve not come to this finding,” she said. “There’s also a large majority of cases where the defendant is mentally ill … but still knew it was wrong.”
Parks’ son, Titus O’Brien, 15, and her mother, Beth Jones, agreed. Both testified that Parks acted “odd” that day and that she had never hurt animals.
‘Strictly a legal matter’
Stimpert found Parks fit to stand trial in January. At the time, Parks faced a jury trial. Her attorney, however, filed a motion requesting a bench trial on March 5.
On Tuesday, Blazef said that was because her client’s state of mind is “strictly a legal matter.” The case is not about what happened, she said.
“It’s about the state of her mind, whether she was insane when she committed the crime,” she said.
On Tuesday — her hands and feet cuffed —Parks stood trial. She wore a teal blouse and a black pullover sweater and her long, curled hair down. Her demeanor for most of the day’s proceedings appeared despondent, her eyes staring blankly at the desk in front of her.
She did, however, show emotion.
ACSO Dep. Angie Hamilton and another deputy responded to Parks’ house on April 30, 2024. Hamilton took the stand as a witness, the other was unavailable for Tuesday’s trial.
Much of Hamilton’s testimony involved viewing body camera footage of the incident.
When Hamilton’s body camera panned to three of Parks’ sons, she began to cry quietly, her shoulders shaking to the sobs.
Hamilton, along with Capt. Don Sims, testified to the timeline of events. Sims responded to the scene when Hamilton requested backup.
Rough Timeline
- April Parks picked up her three boys from school in Ashland on the afternoon of April 30, 2024. They noticed her erratic behavior and they get into an argument. One of them testified she stopped and kicked them out of the vehicle because she was afraid she’d crash.
- The boys called their dad to pick them up but he was working. They’re still near the school, Ashland Middle School. They called their grandma, Beth Jones, and she came to pick them up.
- When Jones arrives at their house, she discovered the dead cat on the counter and her daughter acting strange. She covered up the cat with a towel, she said. One of the boys called 911 and handed the phone to her. Jones did not tell the dispatcher about the dead cat because she “wanted to protect” her daughter.
- ACSO deputies responded to an “emotionally disturbed” person call in the afternoon of April 30, 2024.
- They found Parks sitting behind a shed on her property, smoking a cigarette, surrounded by her dogs. She mentioned a desire to see her grandmother, who was ill at the time.
- She had a bloodied elbow. Hamilton said she initially thought the wounds were self-inflicted, but officers discoverrf they are cat scratches. Parks mentioned the cat got outside and that she didn’t want the cat to be outside with the dogs.
- Deputies agreed to let Parks drive herself to her aunt’s house to visit her sick grandmother. Parks headed toward the house to clean her elbow and, according to Hamilton’s understanding, got ready to drive to her aunt’s house.
- Officers spoke with Beth Jones, Parks’ mother. Jones is who spoke to a 911 dispatcher to initiate the ACSO’s response.
- As they spoke to the mother, officers heard Parks’ boys crying. The boys said “she killed the cat.”
- Hamilton called for her supervisor, Sims. She walked toward the house, where Parks was suspected to be.
- Officers discovered Parks had barricaded herself in a mudroom, or breezeway. The room is located between the house and the attached garage and blocked by two locked doors.
- All the officers, including Sims, tried to coax Parks out of the locked room for roughly 15 minutes. During this time, Hamilton and the other deputy discovered the dead cat in the kitchen, which was covered by towels.
- Hamilton’s colleague kicked in the door, believing Parks was in danger to herself.
- Officers put Parks in handcuffs and placed her in a patrol vehicle, where she was interrogated by Sims. This is when Parks admitted to killing the cat and apologized. She said she was upset about her sick grandma and about the cat scratching her and about the cat getting outside.
- Deputies escorted her to UH Samaritan, where Parks displayed erratic behavior and refused treatment and evaluation. She also threatened staff by saying her father, who “is God,” will kill them all. Staff there ultimately sedated her.
- She was eventually transported to Ashland County Jail, pending a criminal charge.
Parks remained jailed from April 30 through May 9, when she posted bond, court records show. On Dec. 16, the court found she violated bond by staying at a house in which her children live following the death of someone in her immediate family.
The bond stated she was not allowed to have contact with animals — the house was filled with her pets. She has been in Ashland County Jail since Dec. 31.
An emotionally charged moment
An ACSO deputy escorted Parks out of the courtroom after the day-long trial. In the hallway, her teenage boy, who had just testified on her behalf, rushed over to her — his arms stretched wide for a hug.
The deputy stopped him.
“Are you her son?” he asked.
“Yes.”
The deputy nodded, approvingly. The son embraced his mother wordlessly for a moment before Parks entered the building’s elevator.
“I love you,” she called out, assuring him she’s OK — she’s made some friends at the jail, she said.