Demond's accused killer put under suicide watch

Wearing an indestructible tan jail gown designed for suicidal inmates, the woman accused of the brutal murder of a 4-year-old relative was ordered Wednesday to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and refrain from contacting her children.

Hennepin County District Judge Ann Alton ordered Carla Poole, 37, of Minneapolis not to contact her children, either directly or through a third party. "At this point they do not exist for you -- understand?" Alton said. Poole nodded.

In a second court hearing Wednesday, the Hennepin County attorney's office started proceedings to permanently take away Poole's parental rights of her four children. A court document detailed four different child abuse allegations investigated by county social workers.

Murder charges filed Tuesday accused Poole of having her 4-year-old and 6-year-old children hold Demond Reed while she fatally beat him and her 11-year-old child watched. The alleged trigger for the beating was that Demond soiled his pants.

Demond's body was found double-bagged in a closet at Poole's house early Sunday, days after she claimed he was taken by a friend. She was watching the boy while his father served a jail sentence.

Poole showed little emotion during her criminal court hearing, but Alton said she was told by jailers that the woman had "given the staff concern to be worried about suicide."

Initially, defense lawyer Rick Trachy balked at the psychiatric evaluation, but Alton assured him it would be confidential and could not be used against her.

"I want her to see a psychiatrist in case she needs medication," Alton said, adding that she didn't want to wait until Poole's next hearing to have her mental health addressed. "I'm very concerned about what the deputies told me this morning about her condition. ... We don't want something happening in the jail."

The medical evaluation has nothing to do with an evaluation of competency to stand trial.

Poole appeared briefly and provided only her name and address to the court. Alton said she would continue to be held on $1 million bail at least until her next hearing at 1:30 p.m. March 14 before Judge Margaret Daly.

She also told Poole not to have contact with anyone in Demond Reed's family.

Alton then looked out into the courtroom and asked if anyone from Reed's family was there. She was told there were and said, "I want you to know how sorry I am. This is a terrible thing."

After the brief session, Tony Ishmon, Demond's paternal grandfather, spoke briefly with reporters. "I never thought Carla would do anything like this," he said with tears in his eyes. "I've known her since she was this high. It just takes the light out of me."

Asked what he thought about seeing her in the court session, Ishmon said he wasn't paying attention to her. "I don't know what the whole situation is. I'm just going to let God take care of it," he said.

Asked about a proper punishment for the person who killed his only grandson, he said, "I don't want to talk about anything. I am grieving."

Following the hearing, Poole was immediately driven to the Juvenile Court for the parental rights hearing. Judge Kerry Meyer found a prima facie case for terminating her rights and ordered the children to be kept out of the home. The next hearing is March 13.

A court document said Poole's children have special needs, but details were redacted. Last year, child protection services received two reports that two of her children had multiple unexcused absences. She agreed to work with the school to improve attendance.

In 2005, child protection workers investigated a report that Poole was living with a man who had three guns accessible to children and was selling drugs out of their home, the document said.

In 2006, Poole allegedly forced her children to stay in a room and allowed them to come out only to use the bathroom, the document said. In both cases, there wasn't enough evidence to support a finding of maltreatment.

The document also noted that the father of one of Poole's children was investigated for failing to protect the child, but there were no maltreatment findings. There are no relatives to accept a transfer of legal custody of the children at this time, the document said.

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