OTTAWA — A man who walked into the sheriff’s office and told a detective he purposely killed his 2-year-old son 10 years after the incident for which he served time was found competent to stand trial Thursday.
Putnam County Common Pleas Judge Randall Basinger ruled Travis Soto was competent to stand trial. Basinger made his ruling after two doctors who performed psychological evaluations on Soto testified he was competent.
Soto, 30, is charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, kidnapping and tampering with evidence. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is in the Putnam County jail.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office reported in July that Soto walked into the sheriff’s office and wanted to confess to killing his son, Julio Baldazo, on Jan. 23, 2006. He told a detective he found religion and was trying to make things right with himself and God, Sheriff Tim Meyer said.
Soto already served time for child endangerment in his son’s death and the court has a pending ruling on whether trying him on additional charges constitutes double jeopardy.
During Thursday’s hearing, two doctors said they believed Soto was trying to make it appear he had some type of mental illness but none of the indicators were there and he had no history of it.
Soto told Dr. Thomas Sherman of the Court Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Toledo he was hearing voices.
“He said some months before he made the confession he had been tormented by voices,” Sherman said.
Sherman said it was odd since Soto never told investigators and didn’t have any other signs or history of mental illness.
“I was concerned with whether there was a serious mental illness. I had doubts about that,” Sherman said. “It was my opinion that he had no mental illness that would impair his ability to stand trial.”
Dr. Kara Marciani of the Forensic Psychiatry Center of Western Ohio said she observed Soto pretending to not know information he knew such as how the legal system worked especially since he had extensive involvement in the criminal justice system. Soto also told her about the voices he claimed he heard.
“I don’t believe he is psychiatric ill,” Marciani said.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
