TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A young woman just pleaded guilty to causing a wreck that killed a family of five.
The plea deal for Malyn Pavolka calls for between six and thirty years in a psychiatric hospital.
It’s unusual for a judge to accept a plea of guilty except insane, but Judge Danielle Constant agreed Malyn Pavolka was too insane to understand what she was doing the day she killed a family of five.
Investigators say Malyn Pavolka was driving more than 80 miles per hour when she plowed into an SUV on Ajo Highway.
There were five people in the SUV when it burst into flames. People tried to rescue them, but the flames made it impossible.
Pavolka was charged with manslaughter in all five of the deaths.
Pavolka had a history of mental health problems. She told investigators she was just driving and remembered nothing of the wreck.
She was off her medications. Javier Melendez lost his 95-year-old mother in the wreck.
He says Pavolka made a conscious choice not to take the meds that controlled her mental illness.
”If somebody takes the life of another person it is a crime. A lot of people can work the system. Five members of my family passed away. Under this law she can serve as little as four months," said Melendez.
In Arizona, pleading Guilty Except Insane can lead to the person being confined to a mental hospital instead of a prison. The time would be the same as a prison term with an important exception. If the person is judged as cured, they can be released, but under the supervision of a special psychiatric review board.
The judge says guidelines say Pavolka should be committed for at least six years in the case, but she could decide to stack the commitments for as much as 30 years in psychiatric custody.
Judge Constant says she will devote an entire afternoon to a hearing in September to decide how long Pavolka’s commitment should be. Family members will have a chance for their opinions to be considered in how long Pavolka will be locked away.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover provided the following statement in response to the decision:
"For 50 years now, the state's most brilliant legal minds, in consultation with mental health experts, have been grappling with what to do when someone who is in a psychotic state causes something horrifying to happen. The answer to that question has changed multiple times under Arizona law. Although significant progress may have been made, this Guilty Except Insane (GEI) case shows just how impossible that question still is to answer. Once a Court finds someone to be Guilty Except Insane, legal constraints impact the handling and prosecution of those cases. While we do our very best to communicate with victims who have suffered unimaginable loss and harm under these rare circumstances, it frankly remains an impossible quandary. Our thoughts remain with the family."
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
