IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — An Idaho judge has dismissed a murder charge against a woman in the kidnapping and drowning of her 19-month-old granddaughter after she was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Utah.
Kelly Jean Lodmell was to face kidnapping and first-degree murder charges in Bonneville County, Idaho. Prosecutors say Lodmell took young Acacia Bishop from her Salt Lake home in May 2003, fleeing with the baby to Idaho Falls and jumping with the child into the Snake River.
Lodmell, then 39, climbed back out of the swift water near the Idaho Power Plant, but the child's body was never found.
U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball in Salt Lake City found Lodmell not guilty by reason of insanity on federal kidnapping charges in January and last week ordered her held indefinitely after psychological evaluations confirmed Lodmell is mentally ill.
Federal prosecutors argued Lodmell was a danger to the community because she had a lengthy history of criminal behavior, endangering others and severe mental illness. According to court documents, Lodmell still believes her granddaughter is alive.
On Tuesday, Bonneville County prosecuting attorney Dane Watkins Jr. said the findings of the mental evaluations and the move to hold Lodmell in federal custody prompted him to end the Idaho case.
Lodmell has been committed to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Carswell, Texas. She will remain there indefinitely, with annual reports on her status sent to federal prosecutors in Utah and Watkins, who said the door remains open to a future murder case if Lodmell recovers.
Lodmell was not allowed to be alone with Acacia, but she allegedly grabbed the child from the home of the child's great-grandparents as they were baby sitting. Lodmell later told investigators she first planned to keep the child but jumped in the Snake River with Acacia in a murder-suicide attempt.
As she awaited trial in Utah, Lodmell underwent at least three psychological evaluations, including one to determine whether she was competent to stand trial and two to determine whether she was insane at the time of the offense. The evaluations found Lodmell to be in the 90th percentile of the most severe cases of mental defects and disabilities.
Watkins said Acacia's parents support the decision.