Erie woman said to have intellect of 10-year-old heads to trial in ex-boyfriend's slaying

Janice Rowry was 59 years old when she stabbed her ex-boyfriend to death in August 2020 in the apartment they continued to share at Erie's Boston Store Place complex.

The defense said Rowry's mental capacity is that of a 10-year-old girl.

The contention held up her trial as her lawyer and the Erie County District Attorney's Office sparred over her mental competency.

Competency concerns: Boston Store homicide case paused for Erie woman, 61, with mental age of 'a young child'

Nearly three years after Rowry, now 62, was charged with first-degree murder, a judge has found her mentally fit to stand trial and set a tentative trial date for mid-November in Erie County Common Pleas Court.

Rowry's lawyer said he will argue that she acted in self-defense when she killed her ex-boyfriend, Jacob Carr, 42, who was still living with her at the time.

Rowry stabbed him during a dispute shortly after 12:35 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2020, in their third-floor apartment at Boston Store Place, 716 State St.

"He came at her," said Rowry's court-appointed lawyer, Brian Arrowsmith. "She protected herself."

Arrowsmith declined to comment on whether he will argue that Rowry was legally insane at the time of the killing, a possibility he has raised in court filings.

Another possibility: Insanity defense raised for woman, 61, charged in fatal stabbing of ex-boyfriend in Erie

Arrowsmith commented on the self-defense strategy following a status conference Thursday. At the conference, Erie County Judge David Ridge said he had found Rowry competent and set Nov. 13 as the tentative date for jury selection.

The prosecutor at the status conference, Chief Deputy District Attorney Gregory Reichart, declined to comment.

The other prosecutor on the case, First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Reger, said in a previous interview that the District Attorney's Office wants Rowry held responsible for Carr's death.

"We believe she is legally culpable," Reger said in February 2022, as she and Reichart were dealing with the competency issues.

Competency pertains to a defendant's mental state at the time of prosecution. An insanity defense pertains to a defendant's mental state at the time of the incident that led to criminal charges. A defendant can also be found guilty but mentally ill under Pennsylvania law.

Written opinion sealed under new appellate court ruling

Ridge did not go into detail about his competency decision at the status conference. His written opinion on why he found Rowry competent is sealed.

Many court records on a defendant's mental competency used to be public until a three-judge panel of the state Superior Court ruled otherwise in October. The panel placed limits on public access to mental health information in a case that originated in McKean County, Commonwealth v. Marc W. Nuzzo.

The Superior Court, in a precedent-setting 2-1 decision, said the state's Mental Health Procedures Act allows certain information on a criminal defendant's mental competency to be confidential and removed from public view. The ruling has led judges to close competency hearings, which also used to be open to the public.

More mental issues: Mental concerns postpone trial of Erie woman, 60, in fatal stabbing of ex-boyfriend

Before the Superior Court ruled in the Nuzzo case, the debate about Rowry's mental capacity had played out in open court and in public court documents. Testimony and documents showed the defense maintained that Rowry's limited intellectual capacity made her incompetent to stand trial because she could not comprehend the legal proceedings or assist in her defense.

A psychologist for the defense testified at a hearing in March 2022 and found Rowry to be incompetent, according to a defense memorandum filed in April 2022. Arrowsmith, Rowry's lawyer, argued that Rowry's "intellectual gap" could never be overcome and that she could not be deemed competent, according to court records.

In its own memo, also filed in April 2022, the District Attorney's Office argued that Rowry was competent to stand trial. The prosecutors cited Rowry's interactions with the police and the content of telephone calls she took while in the Erie County Prison after her arrest.

Ridge did not rule on Rowry's competency in April 2022. Based on the testimony at the hearing in March 2022, he ordered her to undergo another mental exam to help him determine if she was fit for trial.

DA contends premeditation : Erie woman faces trial on first-degree murder in fatal stabbing of roommate

In his order, issued in late April 2022, Ridge said he had not made a final finding that Rowry's "intellectual deficiency, i.e. her having the cognitive ability of a 10-year-old, is of such a nature that she would be forever incompetent to stand trial."

Ridge referred to another defense finding that Rowry has schizophrenia. He said he was not clear, at that point, on the impact of Rowry's "schizophrenia treatment on her ability to assist in her defense."

Ridge is believed to have used the results of the second mental health exam — performed when Rowry was at Torrance State Hospital, east of Pittsburgh — to determine that Rowry is competent to stand trial.

Rowry to police: 'He jumped on me so I stabbed him'

Rowry is back at the Erie County Prison. Since her arrest in August 2020 she has been held with no bond set because she is accused of first-degree murder, a premeditated killing.

Rowry stabbed Carr, her ex-boyfriend, with a 10-inch kitchen knife, police said. She called 911.

Police responded to the stabbing on a report of a domestic dispute. When officers arrived at the apartment, Rowry told police, "He jumped on me so I stabbed him," according to the affidavit of probable cause filed with Rowry’s criminal complaint.

Nine domestic-related calls were placed to 911 by Rowry between June and August 2020, according to testimony at Rowry's preliminary hearing, in September 2020. None of those calls resulted in a hospital visit or charges being filed, according to testimony.

Preliminary hearing: Erie woman held for court in fatal stabbing

During the investigation of Carr's death, Rowry told police Carr was intoxicated and was annoying her, police said. She said he often accused her of being with another man and refused to leave her alone, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

According to testimony at the preliminary hearing, Rowry told an Erie County dispatcher that Carr tried to hurt her and that she stabbed him.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Homicide trial on for Erie woman said to have intellect of 10-year-old