DaytonDailyNews.com

GREENVILLE — The arrest of 10-year-old Timothy Byers and the subsequent juvenile charges of murder shook the community.

This week a judge will decide whether Timothy is competent to face the charges.

How he got there

The 911 call came Sunday morning Sept. 16 of a blaze at 112-114 Montgomery. By the time firefighters arrived, the frame duplex had smoke and fire coming from the second-story windows.

Trapped inside were a widowed mother and four children. A single mother and three other adults were able to escape as was Timothy.

Darke County Prosecutor Richard Howell later said Timothy confessed to setting the fire, though he never intended to harm anyone.

Killed in the fire were Timothy's mother Chanan Palmer, his sister Kaysha Minnich, and the three children of Christy Winans: Kayla Winans, De'Shawn Davis and Jasmine Davis. The children were all younger than 8 years old.

Winans, 31, and her boyfriend escaped with minor injuries. Two women friends of Palmer's escaped unhurt.

Timothy faces juvenile charges of five counts of murder and one count of aggravated arson.

Possible penalties

If found competent, Timothy could conceivably spend the rest of his life in prison.

Prosecutors could seek to charge him under a 2000 state law that allows those as young as 10 to be deemed "serious youth offenders" and subject to possible state prison time after age 21.

Normally, delinquents can be held only until their 21st birthday unless convicted in adult court. To be tried as an adult, a juvenile must be at least 14.

Competency

But does a 10 year old actually comprehend his crime? How can one so young assist in preparing a defense?

That issue has become more and more pressing as juvenile laws change, shifting the emphasis from rehabilitation to punishment, said Jenifer Wilhelm of the University of Dayton Law School. The visiting clinical professor has 15 years experience working with the Montgomery County Juvenile Court, five as a juvenile magistrate.

"We need to ensure that all due process rights are protected as children face more criminal-type punishments," she said.

In determining competency, Wilhelm said, "When you are looking at a 10-year old, the factors you use take on a different dimension."

Maturity

And those "different dimensions" have to include both the child's cognitive development as well as his psycho-social development, said Kirk Heilbrun, chairman of Drexel University's Department of Psychology.

Heilbrun, former president of the American Psychologist-Law Society, has spent much of his career researching what happens when children get caught up in the legal system.

If you ask a 14 year old what his lawyer does, he likely will show an adultlike approach to thinking it through, Heilbrun said. That would be one measure of the 14 year old's cognitive — the ability to think clearly — development.

But ask the same 14-year-old "how they decide to act and it's obvious they are still developing. They are not mature in judgment, sense of how others respond to them, how immortal they are," Heilbrun said. This would be one measure of psycho-social development — how they behave and integrate their actions with society.

And if Timothy is found incompetent to face the charges, that brings another question. "Then what do we do with him?" asked Heilbrun.

Struggling families

Timothy and his family had lived in the duplex for more than a year. His stepfather, Darren Palmer, had died that summer from complications of AIDS. His mother was working at Maid-Rite, Greenville's iconic sandwich shop.

Relatives said the family was beginning to recover from its loss.

Winans and her three children had moved from a local homeless shelter to live with the Palmers shortly after Darren Palmer's death.

Both families were struggling. "They were happy kids, that's the paradox," the Rev. John Graham, who runs the Fitzpatrick House Emergency Shelter, said of the Winans children. "Here are children who have been bounced around all their lives, yet they are the sweetest kids."

Last week, Graham said Christy Winans had left town, and he was worried.

"Without counseling, I'm not sure she's going to make it," he said.

Putting it behind

Graham also worries residents are wanting to move past the tragedy. The idea that a 10 year old might have committed the crime is too unsettling for many.

"No one is talking about it any more," Graham said. "It's uncomfortable, embarrassing. They want to forget it."

While understandable, Graham believes the fire and all the ramifications have got to remain front and center for the community.

"Because of these kids who died, we have to change something," he said. "If we're not careful, nothing will change."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2290 or dpage@DaytonDailyNews.com.