Case Of Mother Charged With Murder Delayed

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Trial for a Kenmare woman accused of starving her teenage son to death likely won't happen until next spring, at the earliest.

Officials are still awaiting the results of a mental health evaluation that Jessica Jensen, 36, underwent at the State Hospital in Jamestown in October. Defense attorney Tyler Morrow said he also might request an independent evaluation if the first examination deems Jensen fit to stand trial.

"Depending on that outcome, there actually is already, through the indigent defense council, an independent evaluator lined up," he said during a court hearing on Monday.

Judge Gary Lee set a March 9 deadline for a pretrial conference.

Jensen pleaded not guilty to murder, child neglect and failure to report the death of a child in the January death of her 13-year-old son, who authorities say weighed just 21 pounds when he died. The nurse practitioner who declared the boy dead at the Kenmare Community Hospital said he appeared to be only 2 or 3 years old.

State Medical Examiner William Massello concluded in his autopsy report that the boy died of chronic starvation due to untreated juvenile appetite disorder. He listed the manner of death as homicide.

Another attorney for Jensen, Bob Martin, argued during a May hearing that Jensen might have neglected her son's medical condition but that she did not deliberately starve him.

Authorities allege that medical records indicate the boy had not seen a doctor for several years.

Police have said that there was plenty of food in the home.

Jensen could face life in prison if convicted of murder.

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