Trial in 2005 murder of 19-year-old mother set for Dec. 10

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by Tim Troglen

Reporter

Maple Heights -- Almost a year after the court found 21-year-old Jamel Hatcher mentally incompetent to stand trial in the May 2005 shooting death of his live-in girlfriend, the court has declared him fit to face a jury.

The trial has been scheduled for Dec. 10.

Hatcher is in jail and could not be reached for comment.

His attorney, Brian McGraw, did not return calls for comment.

Hatcher was originally charged with aggravated murder in the shooting death of 19-year-old Danielle Boone on May 11, 2005, but the trial has twice been delayed.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge William J. Coyne dismissed the charge in June 2005 "pending forensic evidence," former Maple Heights Police Detective Jeffrey Cook said at the time.

Such forensic evidence came from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation in April 2006.

According a spokesperson from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, this evidence -- which the prosecutor's office has yet to release to the public -- as well as a new witness stepping forward in the case, led police to arrest Hatcher a second time April 27, 2006.

Then, according to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court records, on Sept. 28, 2006, a court doctor declared Hatcher incompetent to stand trial, and he was ordered to the Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare System for treatment, where he has remained until being declared mentally competent to stand trial.

He was then moved back to the Cuyahoga County Jail.

According to police, on May 6, 2005, after not hearing from Boone, the teen's mother went to her Sunnyslope Road apartment. There she found Boone's body and Boone's 3-week-old baby girl, uninjured, in the adjoining bedroom.

Cuyahoga County Deputy Coroner Joseph Felo ruled the death a homicide three days later, saying Boone died from a single shotgun blast to the face and neck.

Hatcher is the father of Boone's baby, who is now in the custody of Boone's mother, Maple Heights Police Detective Gerald Prusha said.

A grand jury indicted Hatcher on the aggravated murder charge in April 2006.

E-mail: TTroglen@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3165