LINDA MARIE STEELE - 4 yo(2009) - Warren, Detroit - MI

January 18. 2011 7:27PM
Warren woman to stand trial in granddaughter's strangling death

Warren— Robin Yorke today relived the final hours of her only
child's life and the horrifying phone call from her own mother telling
her she had killed the little girl. Yorke, 24, of Roseville,
testified this morning in Warren District Court at the preliminary
examination of her mother, Dawn Yorke, who is accused of strangling
4-year-old Linda Marie Steele in the family's Warren home while the
child was in her care June 11, 2009.

Following the testimony, Warren District
Court Judge Jennifer Faunce ordered Dawn Yorke, who suffers from
paranoid schizophrenia, to stand trial on first-degree murder charges.

The ruling comes about 18 months after prosecutors say the
grandmother attempted to suffocate and then strangled Linda with her
bare hands. The two were alone together for a short time while Linda's
father, John Steele, and Robin's brother, were out cashing checks. Robin
Yorke was working a double shift at a nearby laundromat. Dawn
Yorke was deemed competent in November. The evaluation was Yorke's
fourth since August 2009. An independent mental review conducted at the
request of Yorke's defense attorney, Daniel Garon, also ruled she was
competent to understand the proceedings. Robin Yorke testified
today that she'd called her daughter four to five times that day to
check in, as she always did when they were separated. The final call to
chat with Linda quickly turned disturbing. Robin's mother, wouldn't put
Linda on the phone. "I said mom, where's Linda at? Let me talk to
her," Robin recalled today from the witness stand. "She (Dawn Yorke)
said, 'you need to come home with the police right now. I choked Linda
and she's dead.'"Robin Yorke said she called 911 and then frantically
attempted to reach relatives. Warren Police Officer Brandon Roy
testified next. He was the first officer to arrive at the home on
Packard Avenue near Nine Mile and Van Dyke. Roy said he entered
the single family residence and found a man yelling for help and Dawn
Yorke sitting "emotionless" in an armchair. "She was smoking a cigarette," Roy said. "She was emotionless, watching the events unfold around her." Roy
said officers tended to John Steele, who was attempting to administer
CPR to Linda. The child was lying lifeless on a bed, Roy said. Roy
said when asked what she had done to Linda, Dawn Yorke told police
"nobody is going to cut her anymore." Roy then reenacted how Yorke "did a
choking sign to her own throat." When officers moved Dawn Yorke to a patrol car she admitted she had choked and killed Linda, Roy said. Dawn Yorke will be arraigned in Macomb County Circuit Court on Jan. 31. If
convicted, she faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. If a jury
finds her not guilty by reason of insanity, she will reside at a mental
health facility with the prospect of being released if she becomes
mentally ready, Garon said. Robin Yorke said she was satisfied
that the case will proceed to trial. She's hoping for a life sentence
and says she doesn't believe her mother is insane. "I have a
railroad of emotions going on right now," Robin Yorke said. "I want her
to go to prison. I don't believe she's insane." Dawn Yorke had
been living in Warren with her daughter, two sons, and Linda and John
Steele when the murder occurred. She'd been living with Robin Yorke
since Linda was born. Dawn Yorke had been living on Social
Security insurance and disability funds after she developed carpal
tunnel syndrome in both wrists. Robin Yorke said she took her
mother to doctor appointments and made sure she took medications for
schizophrenia, sleeping difficulties and diabetes. Robin Yorke testified today her mother had been hospitalized about six times during the four years they lived together. When she took her medications she was living a normal life, Robin Yorke said. "My mother loved my daughter," Robin Yorke said. "They were inseparable."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110118/METRO03/101180415/Warren-woman-to-stand-trial-in-granddaughter’s-strangling-death#ixzz1BRLYnMcW

Case Schedule

Date Start Time Event Type Result 08/09/2011 08:30 AM COMPETENCY HEARING

http://macombcountymi.gov/pa/

Competency exam ordered for Warren woman accused in granddaughter's death | detnews.com

Last Updated: May 10. 2011 11:12AM


Christine Ferretti / / The Detroit News

Mount Clemens— Competency concerns have delayed the trial of a Warren woman accused in the 2009 strangling death of her 4-year-old granddaughter, her attorney said today.

Dan Garon, the court-appointed attorney for Dawn Yorke, today asked new Macomb County Circuit Court Judge James M. Biernat Jr. to refer Yorke back to an Ypsilanti-based forensic center for a new mental evaluation.

Jury selection had been slated to begin this morning in Yorke's trial. Garon said a postponement was anticipated today to allow Biernat to become acquainted with the case. But Garon said the competency examination, approved by Biernat this morning, will delay the trial at least another 90 days.

Garon said he became concerned following a Thursday visit to Yorke in the Macomb County Jail.

Garon said Yorke told him "she's in pain because she has a snake living inside her body." She was also unable to understand or make a decision about testifying in her defense, he said.

"She has a long history of paranoid schizophrenia," he said. "She's unable to even communicate with her attorney, let alone represent to the court that she's even competent to assist in her defense."

Yorke was ordered to stand trial on first-degree murder charges in January, about 18 months after the June 11, 2009, death of her granddaughter, Linda Marie Steele.

Since August 2009, Yorke underwent multiple mental reviews before she was deemed competent to stand trial in November. But Garon said doctors have determined the grandmother is not culpable, meaning she did not understand the wrongful nature of her actions.

Prosecutors say Yorke strangled Linda while the two were alone together for a short time in the family's former home on Packard Street near Nine Mile and Van Dyke.

A competency hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.

http://www.miweekly.com/news/85-detroit/750-competency-exam-ordered-for-warren-woman-accused-in-granddaughter-s-death-detnews-com

Mount Clemens
Nov. 8 trial date for suspect in granddaughter's slaying
A Nov. 8 trial date is set for a Warren woman accused of strangling her 4-year-old granddaughter to death more than two years ago. Macomb County Circuit Judge James M. Biernat set the date Thursday during a pretrial hearing for Dawn Yorke, who has now been found competent to stand trial in the June 11, 2009, killing of Linda Marie Steele.
Yorke's May trial was delayed after her attorney, Dan Garon, expressed competency concerns. Yorke is charged with first-degree murder.


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110917/METRO/109170332/Man--21--sentenced-to-life-in-two-murder-convictions#ixzz1YJCL5kvO

Last Updated: November 08. 2011 1:00AM

Trial to begin for woman in granddaughter's death
The trial for a Warren woman accused of strangling her 4-year-old granddaughter in June 2009 is scheduled to begin today in Macomb Circuit Court, according to court records. Dawn Yorke, 54, is charged with first-degree and second-degree murder. The court in September found Yorke competent to stand trial in the killing of Linda Marie Steele. The trial was set to start in May but was delayed after Yorke's attorney, Dan Garon, asked for a second mental review of his client.


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20111108/METRO/111080354/Briefs--Judge-delays-Ferguson’s-trial-in-bid-rigging-plan#ixzz1dESNoQGE

Grandmother’s murder trial delayed due to mental concerns
Published: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Defense is seeking insanity for suffocating of 4-year-old granddaughter

The trial of a woman accused of suffocating her 4-year-old granddaughter was delayed because she didn’t receive her medications and could become mentally incompetent to stand trial.

The attorney for Dawn York, 54, is deploying an insanity defense for her first-degree murder trial for the 2009 death of Linda Marie Steele while the two were alone in their Warren home.

The jury was selected Tuesday in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens, and opening arguments were scheduled to start Wednesday.

But York arrived without her medications Tuesday at the Macomb County Jail in Mount Clemens from the state Center of Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti. A state psychiatrist faxed the prescription to the county jail, but she still had not received her dosages Wednesday morning.

Judge James Biernat Jr. dismissed the jury Wednesday afternoon and instructed them to return Tuesday for opening statements.

Yorke’s sister and other family members and relatives were in the courtroom for the trial.

At the trial, Yorke’s attorney, Dan Garon, said two psychiatrists, including a state employee, will testify to back up the insanity claim.

“Dawn Yorke has a 15-year-plus documented history of paranoid-schizophrenia,” Garon said Wednesday outside the courtroom. “They will testify that Dawn Yorke was insane at the time” of the murder.

“The whole case is about where she will spend the rest of her life,” he said, in a prison or psychiatric facility.

Garon will argue that Yorke never should have been left alone with Linda because of her well-known history. Her father, who left Linda alone with Yorke to cash a paycheck, is expected to testify.

Since her arrest Yorke has slipped in and out of the ability understand the charges and assist in her defense. She was declared incompetent in August 2009 but gained competency by October 2010. But after a few months at the county jail, where she cannot be monitored as closely, she slipped back into incompetency, forcing a delay of her May trial. She had complained to Garon and a psychologist that she had snakes in her stomach and didn’t understand the purpose of a trial.

But she recently had returned to the state center and competency after doctors revised her medications and continued providing her treatment.

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/11/09/news/doc4ebad316241c8795026710.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Warren murder trial starts; woman charged with killing granddaughter
Published: Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A 54-year-old woman who strangled her 4-year-old granddaughter was the girl’s “best friend” and showed few signs of violence despite years of mental illness and hearing voices.

The Macomb County murder trial of Dawn Yorke kicked off Tuesday with arguments about whether she was insane when she killed Linda Marie Steele in their Warren home in June 2009 and tearful testimony from Linda’s mom, Robin Clowney.

Defense attorney Daniel Garon wants jurors to find Yorke not guilty by reason of insanity.

Linda’s mother, Robin Clowney, 25, who is Dawn Yorke’s daughter, testified in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens that her mother had no logical reason to kill her granddaughter.

“They were inseparable. They were best friends,” said a tearful Clowney of her mother and daughter. Clowney at the time was known as Robin Yorke.

Yorke, who lived with Clowney and her then boyfriend, John Steele, often cooked and cared for Linda.

During her daughter’s testimony, Yorke showed no emotion, only occasionally looking downward.

Her trial was supposed to start last week in front of Judge James Biernat Jr., but she wasn’t provided her medications at the Macomb County Jail so it was delayed.

Clowney agreed with Garon that “the only explanation” for the death is Yorke’s paranoid-schizophrenia. Yorke suffered from mental illness for many years, and had been hospitalized several times, including a three-week stay only months before the death.

Garon said York could not appreciate the “wrongfulness” of her actions or could not conform to the requirements of the law. Yorke told police she was protecting Linda from a violent death by unnamed others.
“She would spare this child who she loved so dearly,” Garon said. “She thought what she did was the right thing to do, to protect her granddaughter.”

Garon’s insanity claim will be backed in the trial by two psychologists, including Michelle Hill from the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry.

If the jury says she’s insane, she would be committed to a mental institution until health officials determined she is ready to be released.

Prosecutors are seeking a verdict of guilty or guilty but mentally ill, either of which means she would serve life without parole.

Assistant Macomb prosecutor Cataldo said previously that he wants to ensure Yorke is never free again, noting that John Hinckley, who was found not guilty due to insanity for trying to kill President Reagan, can visit his mother outside his psychiatric hospital.

“This is a child killer,” Cataldo said. “We’re not willing to trust the Forensic Center’s opinion.”

Cataldo admitted Yorke was mentally ill but not insane. He said she knew right from wrong because after strangling Linda, she placed her in a bed so police would think she died in her sleep. When she told her daughter over the phone she had killed Linda, she told her to call police.

“It was that covering up that shows she knew the difference between right and wrong,” Cataldo said.

Her family was well-aware of her condition. Clowney said her mother was “normal” while on her medications but relapsed without medications.

Clowney said she did not fear her mother. Yorke didn’t display violence in her past although in about 2003, she was found holding a knife over her son Matthew’s head in the middle of the night in his bedroom.
She also claimed she heard voices and talked about “murderers and rapists” trying to attack her family.

On the day of the incident, June 11, Steele joked to her about stabbing or cutting the “mailman” because he refused to hand over Steele’s unemployment check earlier in his route. On the telephone with Clowney, who was at work, Yorke said she wanted to stab the mailman, moments later saying she was joking.

That raised concerns from Clowney, who contacted her stepmother to check on Yorke and Linda.

Clowney also told Steele to not leave Linda home alone with Yorke, she said. But Steele and Matthew, who also lived at the Packer Street home, left to cash checks. They returned, and Yorke told Steele that Linda was sleeping.

Clowney called home about 6 p.m. and asked about Linda. York didn’t respond.

“No answer,” Clowney said. “I asked her again right away. There was a pause. She said, ‘You need to come home right now. I strangled her. She’s dead.’ I picked up the phone and called 911.”

Steele discovered his daughter in the bed “not breathing” and “purple,” Cataldo said.

Cataldo said Yorke first tried to suffocate Linda with a pillow, and then after Yorke couldn’t stand Linda’s suffering screams, convinced her to lay her head on her lap and strangled her with her hands.

The trial is set to continue today.

http://www.dailytribune.com/articles/2011/11/16/news/doc4ec3cef203c67631779788.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Woman guilty of murder but mentally ill in granddaughter’s death UPDATED
Published: Friday, November 18, 2011

She will spend rest of her life in prison

A Macomb County jury rejected an insanity defense and found a 54-year-old Warren woman “guilty but mentally ill” for strangling her 4-year-old granddaughter.

Dawn Yorke, who is on multiple medications, showed no emotion when the verdict was read Friday in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens following a four-day trial. She will be sentenced Jan. 10 by Judge James Biernat.

The verdict is similar to a first-degree murder conviction; she will be sentenced to life in prison without parole but must receive psychological treatment behind bars.

A verdict of “not guilty by reason of insanity” would have meant she would be confined to a state psychiatric facility and could be freed someday.

Yorke, who has a long history of mental problems, in June 2009 strangled Linda Steele in the Warren home in which they both lived with the girl’s parents.

Assistant Macomb prosecutor William Cataldo, who sought the verdict, said he was pleased but somber following the verdict.

“There was really no upside to this case,” Cataldo said. “It was really minimizing the worst possible situation. You have a mother who lost her own daughter and now has lost her mother.”

The jury deliberated about three hours Friday.

“The jury took their time to talk through the issues and learn the terms,” he said. “They were very comfortable with their decision.”
Several family members present for the verdict displayed little emotion.

Linda’s father, John Steele, praised the outcome as he held back tears minutes afterward.

“It’s about time we found justice for Linda,” he said. “It’s the right verdict. I’m glad she’s away from everybody for life and can’t hurt someone else.”

Steele took criticism during the trial for his actions on the day of the murder. A few hours before, in the presence of Yorke and her adult son, Matt, he remarked that he wanted to stab the mail carrier because he would not hand over his and Matt’s paychecks before he came to their house.

Yorke later said Steele told her to stab the mailman, which Steele denied, saying he merely joked about stabbing him, and Yorke twisted it.

“We were all laughing and joking around,” he said.

He also left Yorke alone with Linda for about three hours despite her mental issues, but he said that was common. The chance that Yorke would injure Linda “was never” a concern, he said. “If I would’ve seen any sign or notification I would not have left them alone. She would’ve been coming with me. Her (Linda’s) grandma used to babysit her all the time.”

Robin Clowney, Linda’s mother and Steele’s ex-girlfriend, testified during the trial that Yorke and Linda were “best friends” and “inseparable,” and were left alone for short periods.

Clowney declined to comment.

Steele and Clowney broke up after the incident, and both have married.
Defense attorney Daniel Garon presented state psychologist Michelle Hill and independent psychologist Ronald Fenton, who both testified Yorke was legally insane at the time of the murder. Due to her mental illness, they agreed Yorke lacked the “substantial capacity either to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his or her conduct, or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law.”

Yorke had been hospitalized for mental problems and tried to commit suicide multiple times.

She was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and for years had been experiencing delusions and hallucinations. The psychologists testified about her hearing voices telling her to protect Linda from “molesters and murderers” by killing her, and believed people were out to get her family, among several other bizarre ideas. She said her moral code took precedence over the law. She showed little signs of violence.

Cataldo agreed she was mentally ill but argued against insanity. He said Yorke knew she was wrong because she tried to cover up her deed and lied about it.

On the day of the murder, when Steele and Matthew Yorke arrived home, Yorke told them Linda was sleeping. Later, she said she did that because she hoped police would believe she died in her sleep and she would be “off the hook.”

Yorke indicated she knew her family would be mad at her and hesitated informing Robin what she had done when Robin called on the telephone from work to check on Linda. Then she told Robin to call police.

Yorke on Friday was to be taken back to the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti while awaiting sentencing.

An insanity outcome is rare in Michigan courts. There has been one in Macomb County since 2005, and that resulted from a plea.

An insanity defense by Jennifer Kukla, who killed her two daughters in 2007 in Macomb Township, also was rejected by a jury.

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/11/18/news/doc4ec6c6dc94cfb048302603.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Warren woman sentenced to life in prison in granddaughter's murder
Jan. 11, 2012

A Warren woman told a Macomb County Circuit Court judge that she had to kill her granddaughter in 2009 "so she wasn't cut up."

The comment highlighted the mental health issues of Dawn Yorke, 54, who was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole. She was found guilty of murder but mentally ill in November.

Yorke carried a tattered Bible as she explained the unexplainable: why she killed 4-year-old Linda Marie Steele in order to protect her. She said she was sorry, but the killing was necessary.

"It's something that had to be, me killing my granddaughter," she said. "Her father would tell her that he'd cut her hand off if she touched anything that wasn't hers."

Family members and friends wore shirts showing a smiling Linda and listing her dates of birth and death. Her mother, Robin Clowney of Roseville, carried an urn with a Noah's Ark theme holding the ashes of her daughter.

Clowney cried as she described how the killing robbed her of the chance to see her daughter grow up and she accused her mother of not feeling sorry. Several times while Clowney spoke, Yorke interrupted her.

"I gave you the greatest gift in the world -- a perfect granddaughter and you took her away from me," Clowney said to her mother.

John Steele, the girl's father, said Linda was his life and he hopes Yorke rots in prison.

Judge James Biernat noted that Yorke said she "pressed on (Linda's) neck but God did the rest."

Biernat said sometimes people let down their guard when it comes to family members. Relatives said that Yorke was treated for paranoid schizophrenia.

"Obviously you should never have been alone with your granddaughter, and it's a tragedy for everyone," he said.

Authorities said Clowney called home from her job in June 2009, and Yorke told her she killed the girl.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120111/NEWS04/201110336/Warren-woman-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-in-granddaughter-s-murder