Woman accused of beating kids to death with bat to stand trial

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

A woman accused of beating her children to death with a baseball bat last year was found to be competent to stand trial on Thursday as District Judge Joseph Bonaventure remanded her case to the North Las Vegas Justice Court.

Prosecutors said they haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty for Sylvia Ewing, 39.

Ewing is charged with two counts of murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the deaths of her children, Phillip, 8, and Julie, 4, in their apartment on Las Vegas Boulevard North across from Nellis Air Force Base.

Ewing remained silent during the hearing, standing only briefly to acknowledge the proceeding.

The charges had been on hold since October 2003 when Bonaventure found Ewing mentally incompetent to stand trial and sent her to Lake's Crossing, the state mental hospital in Sparks.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe said that a few weeks ago doctors at Lakes Crossing deemed Ewing competent after daily evaluations the past nine months made them conclude Ewing had reached "a point where she was able to assist counsel in her case."

Until recently, however, Ewing's lawyers and prosecutors were worried that moving Ewing from a mental hospital to the Clark County Detention Center would affect her mental status.

Jail officials said they would ensure that Sylvia Ewing's psychiatric treatment continues.

Monroe also said Ewing's competence will be monitored by doctors at CCDC and Lake's Crossing if need be as her case moves forward.

Monroe said the District Attorney's office would wait until the preliminary hearing had concluded to determine if Ewing deserves the death penalty. Ultimately a prosecutors' committee would decide whether the death penalty would be sought against Ewing.

According to police, on Sept. 23 Ewing took her children to a Wal-Mart, bought a baseball bat, took them home and allegedly beat them to death with the bat. Police said Ewing then stepped in front of a tractor-trailer in an apparent suicide attempt.