Woman, 74, competent for trial in death of 14-year-old granddaughter missing since 1998
4/22/2014FLINT, Mich. — A 74-year-old Flint woman has been found competent to stand trial in the death of her teenage granddaughter who went missing in 1998.
The Flint Journal reports Genesee County Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farah made the determination Monday in the case of Lois Janish. She was charged last year with murder in the death of 14-year-old Coral Hall, whose body hasn’t been found.
Defense lawyer Jessica Mainprize-Hajek asked for an independent psychological evaluation. The judge granted the request and a May 12 hearing is planned.
Prosecutors say the teen went missing after saying she’d been fighting with her grandmother. According to investigators, Janish told them she and her now-dead boyfriend dismembered the girl and scattered the remains — a story she later recanted.