Charleroi couple has charges dismissed in child welfare case

The father remains in custody on ICE detainer.

By TIM MADDOCKS
For the MVI

A Washington County judge dismissed all felony charges last week against a Charleroi couple arrested in February in a child welfare case that began with their 4-year-old daughter calling 911 to report her father had collapsed.

Common Pleas Judge Traci L. McDonald’s 10-page order found that prosecutors failed to establish a prima facie case against Roldy Noel, 27, and Jackson Alexis, 40, on two counts each of felony endangering the welfare of children.

Charleroi Regional police were called to a McKean Avenue apartment Feb. 21 after the girl called 911 to report her father was dead. Officers found Alexis lying on the floor of the residence, suffering what was later determined to be a cardiac-related medical emergency. The apartment had no running water.

The two children, ages 4 and under 1, were taken into protective custody.

In her order, McDonald wrote that “the young girl had the wherewithal to call 911 in an attempt to get help,” that Noel “was cooperative with law enforcement” and “took steps to secure housing” with assistance from child protective services.

Photographs submitted by the prosecution showed efforts to manage without running water: the toilet was covered to prevent sewage backflow, buckets handled garbage and waste, and bottled water was stacked neatly in the kitchen.

The order also notes that the entire building lacked running water, that the landlord was cited for the conditions and that the building was condemned shortly after the arrests.

Wilmond Celiba, the building’s owner, was found guilty in absentia May 4 of maintaining a structure “unfit for human occupancy” and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. Charleroi code enforcement cited Celiba again May 21 on a separate sanitation violation. That case is pending a July 15 summary trial.

McDonald pressed Assistant District Attorney Emily Roderick on the prosecution’s case during the May habeas hearing.

McDonald asked whether the preliminary hearing transcript addressed Noel and Alexis’s responsibility for utilities at the apartment.

“The terms of the lease were not introduced at the preliminary hearing, your honor,” Roderick said.

“Does the Commonwealth not believe that is an important aspect of this case, considering it is a leased premises?” McDonald asked.

Roderick told the court the landlord had been cited for property ordinance violations and the building condemned.

“You’re indicating the owner of property, who has control over water, was cited with a summary offense, is that correct?” McDonald asked.

“To my knowledge,” Roderick said.

“And the parents of the child were charged with felony two endangerment?”

“Yes.”

McDonald asked whether the Commonwealth could cite any case in Pennsylvania establishing felony charges for failure to provide access to running water.

“Not at this time,” Roderick said.

“It was a bad case to start,” said Jake Mihalov, the court-appointed attorney who represented Noel and filed the petition for a writ of habeas corpus. “It shouldn’t have been charged at all.”

Mihalov said the evidence showed Noel and Alexis had responded reasonably to a building-wide failure.

“When presented with adverse circumstances, like water being turned off by a landlord that didn’t know what the heck was going on, Ms. Noel and Mr. Alexis provided water, provided as much sanitation as they possibly could, kept the place remarkably neat for the circumstances and did what they could to protect their children,” Mihalov said.

Neither Noel nor Alexis had any prior criminal record, according to the dismissal order. The charges were initially filed at the felony 3 level and elevated to felony 2 at a March preliminary hearing because of the children’s ages.

Noel was released on unsecured bail March 20. Alexis was denied bail and held at Washington County Correctional Facility on an immigration detainer. Federal regulations limit ICE detainers to 48 hours past a criminal release, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays. The 48-hour window on Alexis’s detainer expired Friday afternoon. As of Monday afternoon, he remained at the jail.

“If he would get deported over this, what a shame,” Mihalov said.

The Washington County District Attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

Tim Maddocks is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He can be reached at timothy. maddocks@gmail.com.