Rock County criminal justice group mulls third-party investigation in homicide

Jonah Beleckis, The Janesville Gazette, Wis.
·3 min read

Mar. 19—JANESVILLE — Rock County's criminal justice committee Thursday weighed having a third party investigate the decisions made before a Janesville man was charged with killing a woman he had reportedly attacked before.

At February's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council meeting, Janesville Police Chief Dave Moore first floated the idea of examining the decisions that led to Jeremy L. Mondy being out of custody when authorities say he murdered Kally Elliott of Janesville on Feb. 14 in a Wisconsin Dells hotel room.

Mondy was charged in Columbia County Court with first-degree intentional homicide, and his case is ongoing.

But he also has other domestic violence cases in Rock County Court involving the same victim, including strangulation and suffocation and false imprisonment charges filed 10 days before Elliott's death.

He had a signature bond in that case, and court records show he was given Level 2 supervision through JusticePoint, a pretrial supervision program.

"I question if we did all that we could in this incident," Moore said, repeating a comment he made during last month's meeting.

No specific action was taken on the matter Thursday.

Moore and other officials who spoke Thursday emphasized they are not looking to blame any one person or area for the death in this case. Rather, they said they want to see if they can improve the system and keep everyone as safe as possible.

Additionally, Moore spoke favorably of the evidence-based decision-making initiatives to keep low-level offenders out of jail.

The police chief said his own department is too close to the matter to investigate everything that took place. The third party could examine decisions that the police department made, too.

"I'd welcome that opportunity for improvement," he said.

But officials pointed out Thursday that the council does not have its own budget. One possibility is to ask the county board for funding for a third-party investigation.

Judge Barbara McCrory suggested asking if an academic, perhaps someone at UW-Whitewater or another nearby university, could handle such an endeavor.

Kate Luster, director of human services for the county, said she has seen similar kinds of reviews in the child welfare arena, such as when there is death or injury to a child who has been in the system. She said a review can peel back the layers and find a "second story."

"Why was this decision made? Why was this information available or not available? Why was it interpreted this way? What pressures are on who (and) at what point?" she listed as possible questions to ask.

"I think that kind of in-depth review that is systemic in nature actually helps you improve outcomes in the future in a more robust way," she said.

Still, the group did not appear to have immediate answers about which records would be available to such an investigator while the case is ongoing in the court system.

McCrory also said she looked at what the court system can do to better handle domestic violence cases, of which there are "way too many."

Mondy is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the homicide case at 2:30 p.m. April 15.

The council will next meet at 3 p.m. that day. It plans to hear a presentation from Janesville police's domestic violence intervention team and hear more about potential leads for an incident review.

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