Woman denies mental illness, will serve at least 14 years in attempted murder of parents

ELYRIA — For attempting to kill her parents in December 2022, Emily Deese was sentenced Friday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court to a minimum of 14 years and a maximum of 21 years in prison Judge Melissa Kobasher handed down the sentence. As long as Deese behaves in prison, under Ohio law, it she likely will be released after serving the minimum term of 14 years. Deese pleaded guilty in July to two counts of attempted murder, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of domestic violence and one count of tampering with evidence, all felonies. Under Ohio law, most of the charges merged for the purposes of sentencing. Kobasher sentenced Deese to seven to 10½ years in prison on each of two attempted murder charges to run consecutive to each other. An additional year in prison on the tampering withe evidence charge will run concurrently, or at the same time. At Friday's hearing the only person involved in the case who thought Deese, 36, was not mentally ill when she stabbed her parents and is not mentally ill now was Deese herself. Mental health "obviously" was an issue in the case, Kobasher said, noting that Deese chose to abandon an insanity defense. Deese's own attorney, father and sister all also said Deese is suffering from severe untreated mental illness. "I think the court can see from the court file and all the evaluations that have been conducted in this trial that Emily does suffer from some mental health issues," defense attorney Kenneth Lieux began to tell Kobasher. "No I do not," Deese said, interrupting her attorney. Continuing, Lieux said Deese asked him to drop her plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity," which he did in May. "She rejects that. That is her choice, your honor. I really don't have much else to say other than she has accepted responsibility and wants to put this matter behind her," Lieux said. Deese, a convert to Islam, was wearing a head scarf along with her jail-issued clothing in court. She looked down at the defense table during most of the hearing. Deese also revealed to the court that she is six months pregnant, and the only medication she is taking is prescribed prenatal vitamins. The pregnancy apparently happened sometime while Deese was in custody and undergoing mental health treatment at one of two secure mental health facilities in the state. Over the past two years, Deese has been housed at the Lorain County Jail, Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare in Columbus and Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare in Northfield. Deese apparently became pregnant while at Northcoast six months ago, according to where court records indicate she was being held in custody at the time. It wasn't clear who the father of the child is. Lieux previously said he couldn't comment on his client's medical situation, but that no crime appeared to be involved in creating the pregnancy. A psychologist found Deese incompetent to stand trial at least once in the past two years, and multiple attempts were made to "restore her to competency" under Ohio law. In April, Kobasher ordered Deese to be medicated against her will "consistent with the treatment needs and the safety of the community," but Deese refused to take part in a court-ordered mental health evaluation because she was "not interested in a sanity defense," according to court records. Misbehavior in prison will lengthen Deese's sentence, the judge said, giving Deese credit for 641 days already served in custody awaiting trial. Deese also was labeled a violent offender who must register with authorities upon release from prison. Kobasher also ordered Deese to have no contact with her parents. Deese: I'm not mentally ill Mental health treatment "ruined my life," Deese told Kobasher. She said she is well now that she is off her parents' "bad medicine" and that her religion forbids such medications. In a rambling statement, Deese said her father's legal guardianship and forced medication did something to her mind, leading her to become addicted to drugs and alcohol, then leading her to do illegal sex work to support her addiction. "My parents had forced me on medication that was unnecessary from a very young age. I was a straight A student," she said Barely pausing to take a breath, Deese told Kobasher she "developed problems in the head because I had no mental problems and these medicines they forced me on messed me up in my mind and I developed drug and alcohol problems and they forced me into institutions and on medicine when nothing was wrong with me in the initial place I only appeared to have something wrong with me because of the extent of the medicine they put on me and then I had drug and alcohol problems to self-medicate from the horrible side effects of this medicine that I didn't need." Deese said she "got away" from her parents at 18, but her father Jim got guardianship over her, put her in rehab "for smoking marijuana," and continued to force her to be medicated. Severe alcohol problems continued, and she developed a "severe" addiction to crack cocaine and "became a prostitute to support my habit," she said. Off medicine and out from under her father's guardianship, Deese said she had severe withdrawals from alcohol and psychiatric medications. In the last two years, "I've been doing fine. I have no mental problems at all. They made all that up and forced me on so much medicine that it appeared that I had a mental problem that I didn't have," Deese said. "I'd rather do the maximum amount of time allotted to me than go any kind of mental health medicine." It is generally agreed by researchers and experts that the risk to a fetus from psychotropic drugs, antipsychotics, antidepressants and other prescribed medications is low. Islam does not forbid the use of psychotropic medications as long as their ingredients do not violate religious dietary restrictions. Family: We are still afraid In a victim impact statement, Jim Deese told Kobasher about the wounds he and his wife Melanie suffered at the hands of their daughter on Dec. 6, 2022, in their home on Amber Way in North Ridgeville. Leaving her mother behind with severe bleeding, Emily Deese chased her father out of the house at knifepoint, still attempting to stab him. She was quickly arrested by responding police officers. Melanie Deese suffered nine stab wounds and Jim Deese had four, with each suffering at least one serious knife wound to the neck. Multiple North Ridgeville officers were awarded lifesaving commendations for helping save the victims' lives. Emily Deese "is not competent. I understand the difference between competency, legal insanity and civil incompetency," and she has been ruled "not competent" in Cuyahoga County Probate Court, Jim Deese said. He said his daughter's primary need is mental health treatment, "which I'm concerned she's just not going to get with a prison term," Jim Deese told Kobasher. The couple's injuries "are still very serious," he said. The knife severed a tendon in his left arm, and he has nerve damage in his head and chronic swelling in his neck. No matter what, the couple likely will have to move before their daughter is released from prison "because she knows where we live," Jim Deese said. Melanie Deese did not speak at Friday's sentencing hearing, but wrote a letter to the court that was not read out loud. The day of the attack, Jessica Deese said she watched her sister stab their father in the neck. Jessica Deese locked herself in a room and called 911. "This was not the first attack on my parents, and as soon as she's able I'm sure she'll try again," Jessica Deese said about her sister. Now married and living on the east coast, Jessica Deese said she still lives in fear of her "manipulative and resourceful" sister Emily. She said she fears that when Emily Deese one day gets out of prison, she'll go looking for her family to finish the job. "Not a day goes by where I don't fear her coming to find me and my family," said Jessica Deese, fighting back tears. Emily Deese "has a mental illness for which she refuses to seek treatment. ... She is a danger to herself and others." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.