Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 1, 1995                   TAG: 9503010067
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PSYCHIATRIC TESTS ORDERED FOR SLAIN BABY'S MOTHER

Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein ordered the evaluation of Simone Ann Ayton for at least two reasons:

Assistant Public Defender John Varney sought the tests as he explores a possible insanity defense for Ayton, who is mildly mentally retarded and has a history of psychiatric problems and commitments to mental hospitals.

Since she was charged with murder in December, Ayton has sunk further into depression and recently was placed on suicide watch at the Roanoke City Jail.

Ayton, 23, is accused of holding her son, Darius Akeem Ayton, under his bath water until he stopped struggling. The offense happened at her Ferncliff Avenue Northwest apartment the night of Nov. 1 - less than two months after Ayton, who earlier had been determined to be an unfit parent by a Roanoke judge, regained custody of her child.

In a report requesting the mental evaluation, Varney wrote that Ayton seems "generally depressed" and that he has had "some difficulty in motivating [her] to take an active interest in her defense."

The report, due to be completed next week, will examine Ayton's competency to stand trial and her mental state at the time of the offense.

Noting that Ayton also suffers from seizures and cerebral palsy, which limits the use of one of her arms, Varney also asked that the report address "any role [those factors] may have played in the actual drowning incident."

Prosecutors question whether Ayton was insane at the time of the offense and are seeking her medical records as they build a case against her.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice Ekirch subpoenaed records this year from about a half-dozen hospitals and mental institutions that have treated Ayton in recent years. The records have been placed under seal until a judge rules what relevance, if any, they have in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial April 17.

On the night of the drowning, Ayton called 911 and said the child had slipped out of her hands while she was bathing him and that she was unable to get him out of the water immediately, according to earlier police reports.

Police said Ayton told them that after finally getting her son out of the tub, she carried him to a bedroom and tried to revive him for 15 minutes before calling for help.

The infant was pronounced dead shortly after rescue workers arrived at the apartment, where Ayton and her son lived alone.

Court records show that Ayton had talked earlier of being frustrated with her son's crying and failure to eat, and expressed concerns that he did not like her.

When Darius Ayton was just 22 days old, he was admitted to Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley suffering from a high temperature and dehydration. A judge later issued an emergency removal order after finding that Ayton was "emotionally unable to care for the child.

Several weeks later, Ayton petitioned the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court to regain custody of her son. After several months of court hearings, counseling and home visits by the Department of Social Services, a social worker recommended that Ayton be granted full custody.

A judge allowed Darius to return home with his mother on Sept. 12, less than two months before he died.

Keywords:
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