Jul 16, 2009 9:07 am US/Central
Father Awarded Custody Of Jada Justice's Siblings
VALPARAISO, Ind. (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
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Jada Justice, 2
FBI Indianapolis
Jada Justice's father will take temporary, partial custody of his two sons.
A Porter County, Ind., Juvenile Court judge on Wednesday awarded Clarence Justice custody of his sons, ages 1 and 6, with Melissa Swiontek.
Swiontek, whose cousin,
Engelica Castillo is charged in the murder of 2-year-old Jada, declined comment on the hearing, saying only that Justice would have custody of the two boys "for the rest of the summer" pending a second hearing, and that she would still have partial custody of the boys.
The Post-Tribune was unable to reach attorneys for Swiontek and Justice, and calls to Clarence Justice were not returned.
Both Justice and Swiontek live in Portage, Ind.
The couple never married, and split a year ago without setting a formal custody agreement, she said, though Justice paid child support and would often take custody of the boys and Jada on alternate weekends.
Swiontek left 2-year-old Jada in the care of her 18-year-old cousin,
Castillo, June 8, when Lake County, Ind., prosecutors allege she beat Jada to death, then tried with her boyfriend, Timothy Tkachik, to get rid of the body and tell police the girl disappeared from her car while she was buying milk and cigarettes at a Gary, Ind., gas station.
In fact, Tkachik told police he saw Castillo rapping the 2-year-old on the head repeatedly at their Hobart, Ind., home, and that Jada stopped breathing while in the back seat of their car as they drove to Portage to buy drugs.
They tried to burn the toddler's body, and failing that, encased the burned remains in concrete and dumped the body in a swamp in LaPorte County, Ind.
LaPorte County Coroner John Sullivan said an autopsy report has been filed with the Lake County Prosecutor's office and that the record is sealed. Sullivan ruled the cause of death was blunt force trauma and that Justice was the victim of a homicide.
Swiontek said the long-term separation will be difficult for her young children, who have already suffered the loss of their sister.
"They're doing better than I expected. We talk about Jada and try to do fun things, like look at her pictures," she said. "We still go out and try to do family things."
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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