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Parole board orders DOC mental‑health evaluation for DeMarco Hawkins instead of revocation
Summary
After a domestic incident tied to medication lapses, the Committee on Parole remanded DeMarco Hawkins to the DOC mental‑health unit for medication regulation and evaluation rather than revoking parole, following executive session.
The Committee on Parole remanded DeMarco Hawkins (DOC 374720) to the Department of Corrections' mental‑health unit for evaluation and medication regulation after an April incident that his attorney and family described as resulting from lapses in prescribed psychiatric medication.
Hawkins entered a not‑guilty plea to an alleged violation arising from an April arrest for domestic abuse battery; that charge was later reduced to disturbing the peace by fighting. His defense attorney, Logan Massey, and Hawkins' wife, Thomasina Bailey, told the board the episode was the product of a mental‑health relapse when Hawkins ran out of medication and that what the family wanted was treatment, not incarceration. Bailey told the board she could provide housing and would help ensure access to long‑acting medication, but the board noted barriers related to interstate travel and parole conditions.
After an executive session to discuss confidential matters, the board voted to send Hawkins to the DOC's mental‑health unit (Hunt Correctional Center) for a clinical evaluation, medication regulation and linkage to community resources; the board framed the action as “in lieu of revocation.” The chair said the objective was to stabilize Hawkins' psychiatric care in custody before arranging appropriate outpatient supports and release.
The board's direction requires coordination between DOC mental‑health staff and the candidate's parole officer to develop a medication plan and community linkages; the panel emphasized treatment aims over punitive incarceration for what members characterized as an illness‑driven episode.
