'The mental health system needs to be on trial': Aurora man found not guilty in dad's death
An Aurora man who was facing murder charges in the 2018 stabbing of his father was found not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday.
More:Aurora man charged in father's stabbing death will not testify in his bench trial
Portage County Common Pleas Judge Becky Doherty found Colton J. Gavin, 24, not guilty by reason of insanity on all counts. He had faced charges of aggravated murder, two counts of murder and two counts of second-degree felony assault.
Doherty said she concurred with Bob Stinson, a psychologist who testified for the defense. Doherty said she did a painstaking review of Stinson's testimony, as well as that of James Karpawich, a psychologist testifying for the prosecution, and Gavin's mental health records in the months leading up to the November 2018 incident.
A group of his family and friends cried and hugged one another as the decision was announced.
"The mental health system needs to be on trial," said Gavin's grandmother, Melissa Melvin.
Gavin was accused of stabbing his father, Thomas Gavin, multiple times while they were at a Greenview Drive home on Nov. 19, 2018. Gavin and his father lived together in a house on Prestige Woods Boulevard.
Gavin opted to have his case heard by the judge instead of a jury. The bench trial originally started in early May but has been recessed and continued several times, due in part to the availability of expert witnesses.
Gavin did not testify in his defense during the hearing.
He was twice declared incompetent to stand trial in 2019, but after undergoing treatment was declared restored to competency in December 2019.
Doherty commended Gavin's family for standing by Gavin, and said the family is in an "awkward position" because they are both the family of the defendant and the victim.
"Obviously, this is something no family can comprehend unless they've been in your shoes," Doherty said.
Gavin's mother and grandmother talked about how the family tried to get Gavin help as they watched his mental health decline.
His mother, Melanie Gavin, said her family spent three months driving him thousands of miles to multiple health facilities, some as far away as Florida. But because Gavin was an adult, none could hold him longer than 72 hours if he didn't want to stay.
Doherty said multiple records at those facilities described Gavin as paranoid, delusional, oppositional and refusing to take his medications.
"His symptoms were consistent at these facilities, and that's why we're here today," she said. "You did what you could. He was an adult. He could choose to walk away."
Stinson, the psychologist who testified for the defense, concurred with multiple other mental health assessments done on Gavin, including those done at the facilities Gavin visited before the stabbing, according to his family.
Melanie Gavin said her son was a college student who had many friends before he started to show mental health symptoms.
"He had lots of friends," she said. "Everybody loved him."
Several studies have found that the insanity defense is raised in less than 1% of felony cases, and it's successful only a fraction of the time.
Doherty said she will now need to conduct a hearing to determine the least restrictive setting for Gavin to get mental health treatment.
Defense attorney Joseph Gorman said he would waive the 10 day statutory requirement for the hearing to take place. Gavin remains in the Portage County Jail on a $3 million bond until the hearing is conducted.
Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora man wins insanity defense in father's stabbing
