Dad found unfit for trial in bridge-drop death of 5-year-old daughter
John Nicholas Jonchuck Jr. loved his daughter, Phoebe, and she loved him too, those who knew the 5-year-old say.
But that didn’t prevent a man described by those who know him as a sometimes angry and paranoid methamphetamine addict from allegedly dropping the girl to her death from a freeway bridge into Florida’s Tampa Bay just after midnight on Jan. 8, 2015, the Tampa Bay Times reported in a lengthy article earlier this year. Although the incident was witnessed by a St. Petersburg police officer, Phoebe drowned before authorities found her.
She was one of nearly 500 children who died while in a parent’s care during the last decade, after the state Department of Children and Families looked into their situation, the Times article says.
Jonchuck, 26, was charged with first-degree murder in his daughter’s death but has repeatedly been found unfit to stand trial in the Pinellas County Circuit Court case, most recently Tuesday. He has a history of mental health problems, including diagnosed schizophrenia and bipolar issues, and has been prescribed clonazepam, Seroquel and Haldol, among other medications, by state physicians, according to Bay News 9 and the Tampa Bay Times.
He was not in court Tuesday, but his lawyers said they are concerned he is unstable and not taking his medication. After Jonchuck was brought to the Pinellas County jail from a state mental hospital last month, deputies said in a log that he refused some of his meds, meals and visits to the day room, among other issues.
The plan now is for Jonchuck to return to the state hospital for further treatment. Another hearing on his fitness to stand trial is scheduled for October.
Abandoned by both of his parents by the time he was 5 years old, Jonchuck had a troubled childhood, the Times reported earlier this year. By the time he was an adult, he had a history of drug abuse, inflicting violence on the men and women in his life and psychiatric issues that resulted, according to his family, in more than two dozen involuntary commitments, the newspaper says.
The state DCF checked on Phoebe when she was 2 years old, finding in 2012 that “family violence threatens child,” but assessing “present danger” as “low” because her parents were in counseling.
Her parents separated after her mother endured repeated incidents of abuse, the newspaper said.
Jonchuck also claimed Phoebe’s mother had pulled a box cutter on him, although a child-protection investigator wrote that “Mr. Jonchuck was observed to have six straight cuts on his interior right wrist that appeared to be self-inflicted.”
But at that point, without a formal court order, Jonchuck got custody of his daughter and his daughter’s portion of her mom’s disability benefits through a restraining order, the Times reported.
The article says Phoebe’s mother was never notified of a court hearing and couldn’t afford a lawyer, so she didn’t contest the injunction.
DCF closed its investigation—one of five the agency made concerning Phoebe—finding that Jonchuck—as others agreed—treated his daughter “in a caring manner.”
Those who knew Jonchuck didn’t expect him to harm his daughter, either. However, the understaffed agency failed to appreciate the big picture of his drug use, hallucinations, history of domestic violence against Phoebe’s mother and frequent changes of residence as he moved between homes of friends and family members, the Times wrote.
Less than a month before Phoebe died, Jonchuck got a job at a telemarketing company, where he talked about Abraham, Isaac and a lamb sacrifice.
His boss, Scott Hedger, didn’t know the Bible story about God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son. But he knew something was wrong with Jonchuck, the newspaper reported.
“Either he was mentally unstable or on drugs,” Hedger told the Times. “I couldn’t tell which.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer called 911 about client who police say dropped 5-year-old daughter over bridge to her death”
Tampa Bay Times (Sept. 2015): “John Jonchuck, who dropped daughter Phoebe, 5, to her death, still not competent to stand trial”
