May 26, 2007, appeared to be a typical morning for Jeannette Halton-Tiggs. It began like
all others with having coffee and preparing for her daily commute to
work. When she turned on the television, she was horrified to learn that Cleveland Heights Police Officer Jason West, a native of Avon,
was brutally gunned down while answering
a disturbance call several hours earlier. What
she witnessed next was a life changing event that was the culmination of her
desperate attempt to save her son and sadly, it was the outcome she predicted
several months prior.
As Jeannette watched the story
unfold, she stood shocked as she saw a familiar
SUV confiscated as evidence from the
scene. It was then she knew that her son, Timothy Halton, who struggled
for many years with severe mental illness, and who owned the vehicle, was the
perpetrator of this horrific deed.
Nearly four years later, on March 15, 2010, the radio dispatcher in
Elyria heard the final chilling words from Officer James Kerstetter, “I’ve been
shot” as he was murdered answering a disturbance call. Like Halton,
his assassin, Ronald Palmer, suffered from untreated and self-medicated mental
illness.
On the surface, it seems that the
linkage connecting these mournful events
would be both killers afflicted with mental illness. However, a backstory focusing
on preventive steps that should have occurred,
are more complex and spotlights how the
public at large often views this segment of society as disposable commodities.
These killings highlight that often it is the “cost burden” of treatment that
ultimately becomes the main culprit of these and many other tragedies.
As one examines the foundation of these
horrific events, it is important to examine them through several different viewpoints.
The keys are families of the killers, the police, those who struggle with
mental illness who can give first-hand
accounts, and government advocates.
As one delves into the root causes, the
first thoughts that would come to mind are what kind of person becomes a monstrous
individual who would perpetrate such violence? Analyzing the lives of Halton
and Palmer, they both tended to exhibit Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personalities.
Timothy Halton was not born to be a killer; he spent his young age singing in a
church where
his Grandfather was a Bishop. He was known as a very sweet kid who was
described by many as being both nerdy and overly religious. He was a quiet and unassuming
young man. However, during his teenage years, along with the onset of schizophrenia,
his life veered off on a path of violence and eventually murder.
In
the ensuing years, his mother began a fruitless quest to procure an effective
remedy and most importantly, funding for his medication. Time after time, she
came up empty which turned her life upside down. Despite working multiple jobs,
the high cost of his treatment forced her into bankruptcy, and Timothy would
routinely fail to remain on medication. During the nine years from diagnosis
until that fateful meeting with Jason West, he was hospitalized nearly twenty-five times. In spite of his violent behavior
which led to numerous criminal charges, he managed to escape punishment for vicious
assaults with two successful not guilty by
reason of insanity pleas. Jeannette, who found herself a victim of her
son’s violent rage, was living a nightmare and found no place to turn for assistance.
Finally, he was arrested and charged with assaulting a South Euclid
police officer. In an ironic twist, this crime produced a positive result. As
part of his sentence, he was given four-year
probation, which required him to attend treatment, and included an injection to
control his symptoms. For the first time, he would be provided something close
to seamless therapeutics for his condition. The results bordered on miraculous.
Almost immediately, he began to function free
of violence and with some realistic goals. He applied for and was approved for funding to attend college. As he recovered, he began
a job working six days a week and was once again the soft-spoken son Jeannette once knew. This
medication regimen was effective in controlling both his paranoia and violence and most
importantly, was carefully scrutinized by the courts.
Just
over a year later, his path towards murder began not in the form of his symptoms,
but at the hands of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. At a routine
meeting with his probation officer, he was deemed rehabilitated and recommended
to be removed from his community control sanctions, which included his
mandatory treatment. When informed of this intention, a now panic-stricken Jeannette realized the inherent
danger this posed and began a vain attempt to prevent this action.
Her first move was to contact the officer who
made the determination to shorten the probation. She pointedly informed this
official that if her son were left untreated, he would soon “kill” someone. This officer of the court, Ann Marie Gardner, quickly
dismissed her advocacy and coldly ignored her pleadings.
Next, she attempted to meet with Judge Christine McMonagle, who had the final say on this decision and discovered that the Judge would ‘not’ meet to discuss
her concerns. With all avenues exhausted, Jeannette was now forced to await the
inevitable violent outburst. Her belief in the possibility that he would eventually kill someone came to fruition.
In the aftermath of this
killing, and as the story unfolded, neither the Probation Officer Gardner nor Judge McMonagle ever rationally explained the
reasoning for both ending his probation nor to consider taking Jeannette’s
pleadings seriously. Through the media, the Judge insisted there were no “Red Flags” to indicate that
Timothy had the potential to be a killer. However, with numerous past acts of
violence, and countless hospitalizations,
it is hard to fathom the justification for her decision. Both Ann Marie Gardner,
now a supervisor in the adult probation department, and Judge McMonagle failed
to return phone calls for comments on this article.
.
A little-known piece to this tragedy is the Timothy Halton himself was
alarmed at the prospect that his medication regiment would end. He knew that
neither he nor his Mother had the resources to continue on his own. To his
credit, he applied for different treatment programs but was not accepted until
several days after this killing.
As she mulls over a true belief behind terminating his probation,
Jeannette minced no words in blaming economics. She said, “You have a young black man with a history of violence on four years’ probation,
and the only way probation would have ended sooner would be if there were a cost factor involved.” She went on
to elaborate that “the price tag for the injection
of Risperdal Timothy was taking was alone
over $700 a month!”
.
A missed opportunity was lost on Timothy Halton, as had he been forced
to remain on probation, it is highly unlikely that this killing would have
occurred. Additionally, it would have been important for care to be available
after his sanctions did end, but we will
never know. This type of missed opportunity is not uncommon, and a similar incident
occurred about thirty miles away.
In Elyria, Police Officer James
Kerstetter was executed while answering a disturbance call from a man named Ronald
Palmer. On the surface, this appears to be a murder that took place by a madman
who had a history of mental illness, namely bipolar disorder, as many of his
co-workers have acknowledged. However, the prequel to that murderous action
paints another ominous picture of the how the needs of those afflicted go unfulfilled.
As
one examines the life of Ronald Palmer, some eerily similar traits of him
emerge that match up with Timothy Halton. When on their psychotropic drugs, both
had been described as upstanding
individuals, but when off, the dark side of their sick minds emerges.
In the immediate aftermath, the life of
Ronald Palmer was scrutinized to determine exactly how this autoworker
transitioned into an assassin. The only red flag that emerged, and it was one
where an opportunity presented itself, took place nearly a year before this event. It was then that he held his
wife at bay during a domestic violence confrontation and was arrested by the
Elyria Police, and pled guilty to disorderly conduct persisting. In reviewing his
adult life, Stuart Canfield the records
officer for The Lorain County Sheriff’s office stated, “Except for the domestic violence charge in 2009, there was no
evidence that Palmer was a threat in any manner!”
It
is here that further linkage between James Kerstetter and Jason West exposes the shortfall that exists within
the methodology the local courts use in dealing with the specific needs of the mentally ill.
As Palmer's domestic case made its
way through the Elyria Municipal Court, he
was ordered to undergo a psychological exam. Though it is solely conjecture, a
possibility remains that this could have uncovered a high propensity to being non-compliant with medication, suffered frequent
psychosis, and forced the courts to take a more preventative action, such as
mandatory treatment with a rigorous probation monitoring. Inexplicably, this
examination was never completed, and no
follow-up ensued. He just paid his penalty and moved on.
When
confronted by this, the Elyria Municipal Court
responded with what is a metaphor for how society on the whole view the mentally
ill, as they stated: “It (the psychological exam) just slipped through the cracks!” In
simple terms, his case was deemed not a high priority.
Historically, the police were considered collateral contacts with the
mentally ill. The severe cases, such as Timothy Halton, were routinely institutionalized
for long periods of time. With the implementation of deinstitutionalization along with severe budget cuts, more untreated
individuals who are in need of help find themselves outsourced to discover
limited treatment on their own. Now, the police have become the new mental
health crisis responders, which is not an enviable task and filled with
numerous challenges.
When examining shortfalls in the
mental health system, it is important to look through the spectrum of law
enforcement. Lorain Police Sargent Robert Brown, who was instrumental in
establishing specialized training in dealing with the severely mentally ill
into Lorain County, stands as an
authority on the challenges they face. He says: “The problem is the courts want to treat them (Mentally ill) as ordinary
citizens and only have a limited ability to enforce restrictions on them.”
Sargent Brown also went on to decry the
decay of the mental health system as a cause for the court system failing in
these two cases. He pointed out the severity of the lack of treatment. “We have some very very sick people and no
place to put them!
In their defense, the Elyria Municipal Court,
like many others, were ill-equipped to deal with the issue of the needs of
people such as Palmer. It is highly possible that like the situation involving
Timothy Halton, the cost associated with monitoring and mandated treatment made
preventive steps prohibitive. Additionally, the courts were limited by statute
to exercise many preventative steps.
.
A positive step in Lorain County
is that even with limited public health beds, a problem nationwide, the Board
of Mental health contracts with private hospitals for additional beds”. Again
the serious cases have an increased
opportunity for treatment.
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In the aftermath of these tragedies, many peripheral issues rise to the
surface. The first of which is the art of “Self-Medication.”
.
An often overlooked challenge
which contributes to the number of police contacts with this group is often
used as a method of the afflicted to relieve themselves from the painful
symptoms. With many, rather than a pharmacist being the dispenser of medication
to control the symptoms, the local liquor store or drug dealer becomes the one
that provides a demented treatment protocol. Once again, this illuminates an
additional linkage between these two murders.
As Jeannette Halton-Tiggs reflects, she remembers when Timothy stopped
his medication; he would head directly to
alcohol and marijuana, which often preceded a violent rage. He would then begin
an all too common cycle of wellness,
psychosis, violence, criminal charges and back to treatment and stability.
Inevitably, this cycle would repeat itself. Jeannette admitted that Timothy was
self-medicating at the time of the killing.
Ronald Palmer’s actions and
behavior mirror those of Halton.
According to the Lorain County Coroner’s office, he had a significant level of
Marijuana in his system. The records officer went on to add, “He was definitely
high the night of the deadly encounter.”
It is vitally important to understand some contributing factors through
the prism of those who struggle with a mental illness. From a first person point of view, it is critical to clear up some
myths. First and foremost, the mentally
ill are NOT more likely to commit violent acts, though when they do, they
tend to be exploited in the media. They are more likely to be victims of
crimes, not the perpetrators.
Next, many tend to develop an
irrational fear of the police. Many often believe that law enforcement will be
the ones to cause harm, which leads to combative situations. New de-escalation
programs such as Crisis Intervention Team
training have greatly reduced the numbers of violent confrontations, but more
work on education throughout the legal system needs to be implemented.
.
One important point is that many of the laws dealing with those in
psychosis were enacted before these
conditions were discovered to be a physical disorder, not strictly behavioral.
However, many inroads have been made on
this issue.
Charlie Neff, the Director of the Lorain
County Board of Mental Health explained
that since these two police officers death’s, the legislature has enacted
significant changes regarding civil commitment and monitoring of patients; He explained
The Court could order an individual to
comply with their outpatient treatment program or face sanctions including
hospitalization.”
Before
this change, the courts only had the power to order people to hospital
confinement if they were an immediate threat to themselves or others. This
change has given the courts more latitude in monitoring those in need of
mandatory treatment. Mr. Neff pointed that “This
is an important new tool available to the community that we hope will work with
a number of individuals to help keep them
compliant with their treatment plans.”
.
This court intervention programs that should have continued in the case of Halton are now getting much more
attention. If looking at it simply as am an economic factor, not just the human
side, it cost approximately $12,000 a
year for his treatment. The results were he was working, was going to attend
school to improve himself and had a realistic goal of becoming a productive
member of society. Instead, a young police officer is dead, and society will
spend over three times that amount per year, to
incarcerate him for life. In a paradoxical twist, he is now receiving that same
treatment inside the prison walls and has no chance to contribute to society.
.
In Lorain County, the Mental Health Board led by Charlie Neff have taken
a very proactive approach to treatment. He
said, “Typically,
mental health assessments and therapy are available within 14 days or less and some agencies are doing same-day walk-in assessments.”
These actions
open the door for courts to be able to order treatment to those deemed
serious cases.
A question that begs to ask is how can deadly confrontations such as there be prevented? What are the
roadblocks to reducing the number of
police interactions with the mentally ill?
The most basic barrier for those seeking recovery and a rescue from an
empty social death originates with the stigma of mental illness. This current climate
is one of little empathy and understanding which causes the afflicted to feel a
strong sense of detachment from social contacts and drifts into a world of
depression and anger.
.
Charlie Neff points at this social detachment from being stigmatized as
a contributing factor in many tragedies and
calls for more action awareness on the issue. “We as a society need to be brave enough to talk openly and honestly about
mental illness. We need to help everyone understand what it is, what it is not,
how to recognize it, and how to help someone get connected to the proven
treatments that will enable them to live a full and productive Life.”
Once again from a first person viewpoint, the stigma is indeed worse
than the illness itself. When one is a member of this group, they discover a
lonely dark existence that breeds painful depression and resentment from the
lack of understanding and acceptance. People
once close to that individual shutter at the mere mention of the afflicted name
and have as false sense of foreboding of any social contact. These factors contribute to anger and
isolation, at a time when support is desperately needed. The awareness that
Charlie Neff talks about can help alleviate a major roadblock for one to seek treatment
and understanding. More importantly, it will help the public understand it is a
disease that is treatable, and not in itself a crime!
Jeannette Halton-Tiggs spends her time both as an advocate and
reflecting as a parent contemplating the what-ifs and should have been. She
remembers the trial, and how all she wanted to do was meet with the Mother of
Jason West, and tell her how sorry she was and that she tried everything to
prevent the killing. His Mother declined to meet her, and Jeannette understood. She now advocates strongly on behalf of
those who are in desperate need for assistance as she was for her son.
An area that touches her nerve occurs after highly publicized killings
is that is the media and politicians always blame the gun, not an illness. She
has disdain for those who cry out for gun control, and she wants the energies placed on providing treatment and
updated laws to prevent other similar tragedies. She has disdain for
politicians who exploit the guns used in tragedies, and not their failures to
provide the resources needed for treatment and prevention. What she says next
speaks volumes; “Sane people do not kill
people!
To paraphrase Albert Einstein, the
definition of insanity is doing the same thing time after time, and expecting a
different result. Society continues to ignore those homeless individuals who go
without treatment. As mentioned, many tend to stigmatize this group who become afflicted with a brain disorder. Once
trapped in ostracism, an “Invisible Minority emerges with many misunderstood
victims of a disease. Additionally, many deaths from chemical dependency can be
traced back to an underlying mental illness.
A key avenue that begs to explore
is to have a serious dialogue on mental illness as a method to bring awareness
and to assist understanding of why an investment in treatment is beneficial to
everyone. In Lorain County many positive steps have been taken. If there are
concerns of a loved one, please go to the website of the Lorain County Board of
Mental health www.lcmhb.org and look up the
many resources available.
There are
so many misconceptions about mental illness, and an open dialogue will assist
in bringing understanding. The media uses gimmickry to describe and
exploit how one who perpetrates murder’s such as these with headlines that read
“Mad Gunman on a rampage! “If someone just snaps and commits something
dastardly, the headline never reads ‘Normal person is pushed over the edge and kills!’
The first step that needs to be taken
is one that Charlie Neff mentioned, and that is there needs to be more
awareness, which will breed understanding. Inroads have been made, which police
work, with making treatment more readily available, the judicial system now
providing mental health and drug courts, and with more people educated on the causes. However, the stigma
remains, and until we come to understand what is needed, because, in the current environment, we echo
the words of Albert Einstein, and continue to do the same thing over and over
again, with the same result.
