68°F
weather icon Cloudy

Florida dad who threw daughter off bridge now competent to stand trial

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A state mental hospital evaluation concludes a Florida man is now competent to stand trial on charges that he threw his young daughter to her death off a Tampa Bay area bridge.

Pinellas Circuit Judge Chris Helinger said during a Wednesday hearing that she’s read the report on 27-year-old John Jonchuck and set a competency hearing for March 27.

Assistant Public Defender Jane McNeill says she’ll want to have doctors chosen by the defense also assess Jonchuck.

Authorities say that in January 2015, Jonchuck stopped his car on the bridge, grabbed 5-year-old Phoebe from the back and then walked to the edge, where he dropped her over.

Doctors have been treating Jonchuck to restore his competency to stand trial.

The Tampa Bay Times reports prosecutors will seek the death penalty.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
NASA weighs in after Kim Kardashian claims moon landing never happened

Kim Kardashian got a lot of people talking when she claimed the moon landing didn’t really happen during Thursday’s episode of The Kardashians. After the comment left many fans scratching their heads, NASA weighed in to react to Kardashian’s claim.

Judges order Trump administration to use contingency funds for SNAP payments

Two federal judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must continue to pay for SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using emergency reserve funds during the government shutdown.

Is Dictionary.com’s word of the year even a word?

Teachers have banned it. Influencers and child psychologists have tried to make sense of it. Dictionary.com’s word of the year isn’t even really a word.

How Americans feel about changing the clocks, according to new poll

Yes, you’ll get a shot at an extra hour’s sleep. But even with that, it might be one of the most dreaded weekends on the American calendar: the end of daylight saving time.

MORE STORIES