The 5-year-old sister of missing toddler Lonzie Barton is doing well and beginning to come out of her shell with the help of therapy and the efforts of her grandmother, a juvenile court judge was told Wednesday during a hearing that focused on the young child.
The hearing was originally supposed to focus on whether either of the girls' parents could regain custody of the child. Christopher Barton and Lonna Lauramore Barton both sought individual custody of the girl and told Circuit Judge David Gooding at a Sept. 16 hearing that they wouldn't use drugs and would work to regain custody of their child.
The estranged couple was arrested hours later in Baker County on drug charges and have been in jail ever since. The daughter is now living with a grandmother.
Lauramore Barton, 25, was in court in a prison uniform wearing shackles. Christopher Barton, 41, participated by phone from the Baker County jail, but neither parent said much.
Gooding said he'd received written reports saying the child was responding well to therapy and the grandmother was helping. He also inquired about the mental-health status of the parents.
Lawyers for both said they had been examined by psychiatrists and that written reports would be available in the next week or so. Those reports will likely focus on the parents' mental health and examine any substance-abuse issues they have.
The next hearing was set for Nov. 16.
Lonzie Barton disappeared July 24 while William Ruben Ebron Jr., Lauramore Barton's boyfriend, was taking care of Lonzie and his sister. He told police the boy was abducted when his car was stolen with Lonzie inside. The car was abandoned less than a mile away.
Police have said Ebron lied about the car theft and abduction and likely knows what happened to Lonzie. He is charged with child neglect, giving false information, attempted escape, criminal conspiracy, unlawful possession of a concealed handcuff key and introducing/smuggling contraband into a detention facility and his bail has been revoked.
Police said Lauramore Barton also lied to them, denying she knew Ebron when first questioned, and left her son in his care despite knowing he sold drugs and that they were fighting about the boy's health the previous day.
She is charged with child neglect and giving false information to law enforcement during an investigation. Her bail on these charges was revoked after she was arrested in Baker County on the drug charges.
Police have not charged anyone with murder but have said they don't believe Lonzie is alive. The toddler's second birthday was Oct. 17.
Lauramore Barton is scheduled back in court with Ebron on Thursday. Circuit Judge Mark Borello, who is the judge in the criminal cases against Barton and Ebron in Duval County, is expected to rule on whether the two will go on trial together.
Prosecutors want them tried together saying the criminal charges against them are essentially the same. Defense attorneys for both disagree and want the trials separate.
Ebron is scheduled to go on trial Dec. 7, but prosecutors and defense lawyers have indicated that they don't think that date is realistic. A trial date for Lauramore Barton has not yet been set.
