Woman offers insanity plea

Lona Rios enters Sandusky County Court for arraignment. She is charged in the stabbing death of her father and for injuries sustained by her young niece and her niece's friend on the evening of Jan. 14 in the home Ms. Rios shared with her parents. Ms. Rios' court-appointed attorney submitted a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

FREMONT - A Fremont woman pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity yesterday to an indictment that charges her with fatally stabbing her father and injuring two girls during an argument over whether to watch a movie or a football game on TV.

Court-appointed attorney Upendra Patel entered the plea on behalf of Lona Rios, 45, who did not speak during her arraignment in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court. Judge Harry Sargeant, Jr., continued a $700,000 bond for Ms. Rios, who is charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and two counts of felonious assault.

She remained in the Sandusky County jail last night. Neither family members nor Mr. Patel would comment after the hearing.

Police said a disagreement over what to watch on television led Ms. Rios to grab a kitchen knife and attack her father, 69-year-old Hilario Rios, in their near-downtown home on the evening of Jan. 14.

Authorities allege that after killing her father, Ms. Rios turned the knife on her 9-year-old niece and her niece's 8-year-old friend. Both received stitches for wounds suffered in the attack.

Mr. Rios' wife, Mary, who also lived in the home with Mr. Rios and their daughter, was shopping when the incident occurred.

Further hearings and a mental evaluation of Ms. Rios had not been scheduled yesterday.