Judge drops mental health requirements for Indiana woman

GOSHEN, Ind. (AP) - A judge has modified his 130-year prison sentence for an Indiana woman accused of killing her children.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno has removed any mental health requirements from 30-year-old Amber Pasztor's sentence, The Elkhart Truth reported . Pasztor pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two counts of murder in the suffocation deaths of her 7-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.

Pasztor abducted Lilliana Hernandez and Rene Pasztor from their custodial grandparents' home in September 2016, causing authorities to issue an Amber Alert. Their bodies were later found in a stolen vehicle.

Pasztor told authorities she killed her children because she feared they were being threatened by the Mexican cartel, according to state Department of Child Services records.

Christofeno observed that Pasztor suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia at the time of sentencing. Christofeno originally ordered the state mental hospital to evaluate Pasztor and give her mental health treatment if needed before she begins her sentence.

The state Department of Corrections and the state Family and Social Services Administration challenged Christofeno's authority to create such a sentence and said the order was an involuntary mental health commitment.

Attorney General Curtis Hill filed a motion to change the sentence July 27. He argued that the judgment failed to defer decisions to the agencies under and goes against the principle of separation of powers.

Hill withdrew the filing after Christofeno amended the sentence.

Pasztor is in Allen County Jail awaiting trial on charges in the shooting death of her neighbor, 66-year-old Frank Macomber. The children's bodies were found inside his stolen vehicle.

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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com