Parole board allows release for Lima woman charged in daughter's death

J Swygart, The Lima News, Ohio
·2 min read

Apr. 7—COLUMBUS — The Ohio Parole Board has recommended a Lima woman be released from prison later this year after serving 14 1/2 years of a 15-year sentence in the 2007 death of her infant daughter.

The parole board recommended Kristen Jorris be released in September to finish the last six months of her sentence under what the board terms "transitional control." Under that scenario, inmates are released under "closely monitored supervision and confinement in the community, such as a stay in a licensed halfway house or restriction to an approved residence on electronic monitoring in accordance with section 2967.26 of the Ohio Revised Code," according to the board's website.

Jorris is eligible for full parole on March 15, 2022. She was indicted in May 2007 on charges of murder and permitting child abuse after her 2-year-old daughter, Mia, died as a result of injuries suffered at an apartment on South Stevick Road in Lima.

On Dec. 31, 2006, Mia Jorris was taken to the hospital with bruises and bites over her body after a church daycare employee contacted Children Services. Two weeks later, the young girl again was taken to the hospital for bruising and bite marks. Medical records indicated "abuse possible" as well as "neglect and poor supervision are definitely an issue," according to court documents lawsuit. Children Services allowed the children to stay with their mother in a home where abuse was happening, a lawsuit said.

Daniel Stiles was sentenced in March of 2008 to a minimum of 57 years in prison for the murder of Mia Jorris as well as for serious injuries inflicted upon her older brother. Stiles repeatedly had punched the toddler in the abdomen, according to court records.

Kristen Jorris was sentenced in May of that year to 15 years in prison on charges of involuntary manslaughter and permitting child abuse for allowing the attacks to happen.

She applied for judicial release from prison in 2015, but that request was denied by former Judge David Cheney.