A hearing was held Friday to determine if Javohz Paris can have more freedom at the Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital in Toledo.
Charlotte Caldwell | The Lima News
LIMA — Allen County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Reed will soon determine whether a Lima man will be able to move levels in his treatment to have more freedom at the Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital in Toledo after a hearing Friday.
One of Javohz Paris’s doctors, Psychiatrist David Bellian, testified and explained his reasoning for wanting Paris to move from level two to levels three and four at the facility, which would allow Paris to participate in the work program on-site and therapeutic, supervised outings off the grounds. Bellian gave an example of going to a nearby park as one of the off-ground activities.
He said the team at the facility has been taking a different approach to Paris’s care since he was previously denied from moving to level five — the least restrictive level — and he has been doing more intensive work focusing on daily living with a psychology intern.
Paris, 24, was deemed incompetent to stand trial in August 2021 and Reed denied the level five movement in May after Bellian wrote Paris’s “residual symptoms preclude [defendant] from working through the forensic levels in a stepwise and orderly fashion.”
Bellian said Paris has schizoaffective disorder with symptoms like auditory and visual hallucinations, racing thoughts, impulsive behavior and mania. He didn’t think Paris’s persisting symptoms would make him a danger to the community if he were granted more freedoms, but the symptoms prevent him from having the motivation to attend programs the facility offers.
In 2021, Paris allegedly robbed a clerk at Express Mart in Lima at knifepoint, and during questioning from detectives, he admitted to an armed robbery at Rite Aid, causing him to be charged with two first-degree felony counts of aggravated robbery.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
