True Crime and Mental Health Exposed | Episode 150

True Crime and Mental Health Exposed | Episode 150

Chapter Markers
0:01 True Crime, Mental Health, and Justice
19:03 Crime, Mental Health, and Justice
28:27 Debtor's Prison and Court Corruption

Can a harrowing journey through the legal system change the course of your life before you've even hit your 21st birthday? I recount my own brush with the law due to a DUI, an event that didn't just affect me but rippled through my family, bringing emotional and financial stress. This personal narrative acts as a springboard to discuss larger systemic issues, such as the accusations against Judge Kim Hoover in Stow, Ohio, who allegedly ran a "debtor's prison," demanding immediate payment of court fines without considering defendants' financial situations. The psychological weight of facing such demands is likened to the stress of unexpected healthcare bills, underscoring the need for reform and compassion in our judicial processes.

The episode takes a darker turn as we examine two tragic and complex cases that have left small communities reeling. The mysterious death of Judge Mullins, a champion for those struggling with substance abuse, allegedly at the hands of a local sheriff, raises troubling questions and highlights the mental health fallout within the community. Meanwhile, the shocking murder of Dr. Abraham by TikTok influencer Mr. Prada brings attention to the need for justice and the broader impact of true crime. These stories exemplify the intricate link between crime, mental health, and justice, emphasizing our commitment to amplifying the voices of those affected and advocating for mental health awareness.

Voices for Voices® is the #1 ranked podcast where people turn to for expert mental health, recovery and career advancement intelligence.

Our Voices for Voices® podcast is all about teaching you insanely actionable techniques to help you prosper, grow your self worth and personal brand.

So, if you are a high achiever or someone who wants more out of life, whether mentally, physically or spiritually, make sure you subscribe to our podcast right now!

As you can see, the Voices for Voices® podcast publishes episodes that focus on case studies, real life examples, actionable tips and "in the trenches" reports and interviews from subscribers like you.

If that sounds like something that could help you grow personally or professionally, then make sure to join me by subscribing!

—
Thanks for listening!

Support Voices for Voices®: https://venmo.com/u/voicesforvoices

#TrueCrime #MentalHealthAwareness #CrimeStories #Justice #LegalReform #SystemicChange #Newepisode #newpodcastalert #podcastseries #podcastcommunity #voicesforvoicespodcast #mentalhealth #newpodcast #donatetoday #nonprofitorganization #501c3 #charityorganization

Chapters

• 0:01 True Crime, Mental Health, and Justice
• 19:03 Crime, Mental Health, and Justice
• 28:27 Debtor's Prison and Court Corruption

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I am your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, justin Allen Hayes. Thank you so much for joining us again on another episode of our TV show and podcast. Thank you for all the support that you have given us throughout our time as an organization, especially now as we are and have grown to be able to put this weekly TV show and podcast together for you. So today's episode is going to focus on true crime and mental health and how those are related.

Speaker 1: 0:47

I'll back up for a minute where, in my before I was 21, I made a not great decision as far as consuming alcohol and driving after that, only to drive home Up until that actual time where I was caught. I had been drinking and driving for quite a while and thought, oh well, I won't get caught, I'm okay. And so I came to the harsh reality that I was caught one evening, actually early morning, where I was attempting to drive home my the car. I had the headlights, the way they they work. They weren't automatic like most of them are today, and and so I I didn't have my headlights turned on when I was pulling out of the parking lot of the establishment, and it wasn't until I had made that full left-hand turn that I realized. So I flipped on my lights at that point and to me it just seemed like a very short amount of time. Well, there was a sheriff cruiser that was driving the opposite direction and pulling me over and, to kind of shorten up the story, I was taken in for a DUI, and so that was my first run-in, I will say, with the police, and so I was very scared, very traumatized, even though they were decisions I made. I was bringing my family into it because I wasn't able to, of course, drive home. I had to call my parents at 2, 2.30 in the morning and say, hey, can you come pick me up? I was drinking and driving. So this led to a court case where I pled no contest and the sentence or the punishment was community service, some fines in court costs, license suspended for six months and a three-day remediation program that I had to undertake, which that by itself was $3,000. I made the decision to also hire an attorney, which also cost a lot of money, and so bringing this kind of full circle, you know, mental health-wise and to where we are, kind of the current state that we feel.

Speaker 1: 3:54

So, once we were finished with the judge, we were kind of escorted and said okay, you'll be released and you'll be checked out over here. So I went through a door, my dad was with me, and there were court costs and fines that had to be paid that day. Kind of like you go to a supermarket, right, so you walk in, you roll in, however, you're able to move about, and you put the groceries either in your basket or in your cart, or, if you're just grabbing a couple things, maybe you're just carrying a gallon of milk and you go to check out, right, so you're going to pay and and leave after that, and so that is something the word was all accustomed to. Well, with that court case being kind of my first one, I didn't know what to expect. My dad didn't know what to expect. Luckily he had brought his checkbook and credit card and I believe he paid by a check, and so that's another thing, right. So it's like, okay, well, I'm not going to get out of here if we don't pay, whatever these court costs are. And so that was again very traumatized. And our body doesn't understand stress. Whether it's good stress or bad stress, stress is stress, and so my mind, my body, was undergoing stress Again, even though it was my doing, it was my fault.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Just recently, unfortunately, in Stowe, ohio, we had a judge been judged for many, many years, judge Kim Hoover. He was allegedly operating kind of like a debtor's prison in some of the very same ways that I was, and I was in Stark County, stowe was in Summit County, so different counties many, many years in between the actual events. And so, judge Hoover, there were some of his clients, his defendants, that had gone through court cases and they were going through something very similar. As far as you know, you have to pay this right now. You know, not looking at you know employment status, how, how much money you're making to be able to say, oh well, you're making, you know X amount, so you, we're gonna apply, you'll find in court costs of why it make it related relatable that way. So that wasn't happening.

Speaker 1: 6:55

I was there, 16 at least complaints filed about. Hey, I'm not going to be able to leave today if I don't pay these court costs and these fines and some individuals right and like myself, the back in the day for me. We didn't know what to expect. We didn't know we were going to have to pay at that point, or we're going to be taken off the jail for 30 days or whatever that time frame may be. Where they did some investigating and found that, in their opinion, that he was operating the quote-unquote debtor's prison, not only with the court costs and fines that day, but there was no, say, payment plan right. So if you purchase a new car or you purchase an appliance, sometimes if not in all cases you have some type of a payment plan. Like, oh, I can't pay $3,000 today, or I can't pay $300 today or $20, whatever that amount is, but we could put you on a payment plan. But we could put you on a payment plan much the same as I've also found with hospitals and health care.

Speaker 1: 8:28

Depending on the amount of time and what treatment you have. A bill comes for $35,000. You're undergoing cancer treatment and it's hypothetical and we have to pay this bill. We we have to pay this $30,000. Like, oh my gosh, how am I going to do this? I got to take out a loan. I got to ask family and friends. That is something that is very, very difficult and, luckily, the hospitals that I've had as far as an actual event when I went into the hospital seven years ago with my mental health crash. I was there for five days when the bill came back. It was quite a lot of money, even with insurance days. That, when the bill came back, it was quite a lot of money, even with insurance and and I am what may be considered you know a demographic that can afford for that. So, uh, just to kind of think about that, we were able to be put on a payment plan and, uh, that's how we were able to move forward.

Speaker 1: 9:36

So, judge hoover was not given those options. The amount of money again wasn't for court fines and costs wasn't looked at as far as employment and what a person can afford as a revenue stream, kind of like an organization. Let's say Nike. They come out with a new pair of LeBrons and so there's a price for that and then you can go ahead and pay that and the LeBrons. There's probably with Nike, a line item you look at okay, what are the sales, what's the revenue, what are the costs for this particular product line?

Speaker 1: 10:25

Well, judge Hoover in this case was also using again the court costs and fines in a manner that they weren't meant to be. They were meant to be sanctions, which aren't meant to be okay. Well, this is going to pay my salary as a judge or as a bailiff or as a sheriff or another public official, and so you know we talk about mental health and so I talked about my, my experience many years ago with individuals that you know went through this particular event experience with Judge Hoover and what was alleged in the due diligence from how the Supreme Court came back, that it was in fact true that Judge Hoover was acting kind of in a not lawful type of manner and so he was removed from the bench, which was kind of an immediate thing. So in the Supreme Court rule, the Bar Association they removed him from the bench. So there's a visiting judge that is taking up his cases and he is at his age, unable to be run for office to be a judge, because his position was an elected position and so at his age, given when he was removed from the bench a couple weeks ago and then his law license had been also suspended, I believe it was for maybe 18 months, 20, 24 months, and at that time again that put him over, will put him over the limit to be able to come back and be on the bench again. So again, just an unfortunate situation.

Speaker 1: 12:23

But we talk about the defendants that go through the court and went through Judge Hoover's court, the mental health, the trauma, the stress, the worrying, all those things that I felt many years ago individuals were feeling and they continue to feel, whether somebody's guilty or not, they're still feeling a level of stress. It's different for everybody and with this added stress, so, like I I said, court process goes through there's already that that stress of being in front of a judge and, oh my gosh, I'm in, you know, surroundings that I'm not, uh, not familiar with. I don't know what's going to happen, what, what they're going to do, and and so the mental health on the fines and the court costs really made things just worse for individuals because, again, they were forced to pay these fines and court costs. Or, if they don't have the money, guess what? They're going to jail for a period of time. They're going to jail for a period of time and, from the research that I've done, it looks like Judge Hoover was making that clear that hey, here's the amount that you need to pay, or we're going to lock you up for a period of time until you're able to pay it, and so I can't even imagine what that's like to be in that added again, that added stress, the added anxiety. So that's something that's local, right here in Northeast Ohio. Unfortunately it's happened.

Speaker 1: 14:18

Secondly, I just want to touch on you know we're talking about a true crime and mental health. You probably have seen many of our posts between our TV show and podcast airing dates and and when those those go out, where we started to put you know TikTok videos together, talking about different court cases and how they affect mental health and how our organization, voices for Voices, we want to give a voice for everybody, excuse me and there are individuals that, let's say family members, that are going through stress and anxiety of maybe losing a loved one. There's just some, some tragedy and the person may a family member, may no longer be be living, but the voice of that individual is usually wanting to share their voice, who they were as a person, what they like to do, what they love to do, and that's really where we're talking about giving a voice. So a voice from the prosecution side, event A happened, defendant, believed, has been arrested, has been indicted, and so there's all those things kind of coming together. So from the defendant to the judge, to the court reporter, to the bailiff, to the family of those afflicted victims, not only the voice but the stress and anxiety that really can take a toll if we're not careful.

Speaker 1: 16:07

And in Letcher County, kentucky, there was, unfortunately an event that occurred where Judge Mullins he was. He was tragically killed by the actual sheriff of his town who is sworn in to protect him, and this actually happened in Judge Mullen's chambers and Sean Mickey Steins is the sheriff that allegedly, and there's a camera in the judge's chambers and so the video has been released actually where you can see the sheriff actually standing up and pointing a weapon and discharging it and the judge trying to hide behind a desk. And it's very, very tragic as somebody in Ohio, as myself, just watching this happen. And so there's thoughts and ideas of why this happened and the court process will hopefully unravel, kind of what occurred. And the one thing that is a little bit different from many court cases is usually the person who is allegedly committing the crime or allegedly having committed the crime usually they don't turn themselves in right away and say, hey, I did this, but that's what, in this case, sheriff Sean Mickey Steins did Once he discharged the weapon. The judge fortunately passed away and due to those wounds the sheriff went into the courtroom, placed his service weapon on one of the tables and turned himself in and said, yeah, I did this. And so there's thoughts of what could cause somebody to do that.

Speaker 1: 18:18

So that's where mental health obviously comes in. What really drove this individual Over 20 years being a sheriff? The judge and the sheriff were friends. They actually were eating lunch together earlier that day and there was by a third party that was eating lunch as well with the two the sheriff and the judge in this case that there was a conversation where Judge Mullins asked the sheriff, mickey Steins, do we need to talk in private about this? So again, the story is unraveling or will unravel, hopefully, and the truth comes out and justice will be served.

Speaker 1: 19:03

But at some point between the lunch and the walk and the walk was shown maybe a five-minute walk. It was a very small town where this occurred, so they walked from the restaurant judge's chambers. They both sit down. Allegedly the sheriff asked to look at the judge's phone and apparently the sheriff's underage daughter's phone number was in the judge's phone and so that's where all kinds of rumors and things come about. So the mental health with Judge Mullen's family, even now former Sheriff Mickey Stein's family and, going through the process, the small community only a few thousand people live there.

Speaker 1: 20:02

A lot of people knew and know the individuals that are involved. And so there is the mental health of the community, and whether it's a big city or a small city, it's more noticeable in a smaller city as far as how a particular event impacts a particular geography. Depending on if we're talking about the size of Los Angeles, you know multi-million individuals living in Los Angeles versus in Letcher County, kentucky, where this event occurred. So there's again the mental health kind of comes into play. Whether individuals are talking to counselors or not, if they're on medication or not, whatever, each individual's journey is where they're at at that point when they heard the news about this event. That really has put a lot of people not on edge about looking for the individual that did this horrific crime, Because we know, due to footage in the judge's chambers, who did it. And again the sheriff has admitted it, and so some of them had to have occurred, admit it, and so some of them had to have occurred. And so again, the underage daughter of the sheriff his phone number is in the judge's phone. What's that all about? We'll find more about that, but the reason why I brought up this particular story is because Judge Mullins had, for his entire career, once he passed the bar, started practicing law as a prosecutor and then as a judge.

Speaker 1: 21:59

He was a big advocate for individuals that are, have and were going through substance abuse, addiction, and helping individuals, kind of try to help them, come back on the other side of you know, helping in whatever way you could. So, looking at the whole person and to hopefully help those that you know, the mental health, mental challenges you know depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar, what have you. Whatever the underlying condition is that can definitely affect people. And so Judge Mullins he had, up until his death, that was one thing that he had been doing, and so that's really what caught my attention to want to speak about it on this episode, as we're talking about true crime, things happening, whether it's here in Northeast Ohio or across the country and sometimes maybe internationally, where we want to just share these stories because individuals, again, their voice should be heard, and that's what we're attempting to do with our TV show and podcast and just as an organization as a whole.

Speaker 1: 23:27

And then, lastly, there's a case to tragically happen a individual, an influencer, two tiktok accounts with over four million followers, who went by the name of mr prada. He's 20 years old and he has allegedly taken the life of a counselor, so somebody that you know I would, I'd go see and you know, talk about, hey, what's going on, and you know, the last last four weeks or five weeks, and, and you know, help try to treat the individual at that moment. And while this particular crime homicide occurred, there was no, at least up until now there was no indication that Mr Prada was one of Dr Abraham's clients. And so, again, the story will hopefully come out, justice and truth, hopefully, will prevail. And so here's Dr Abraham, somebody who is helping people, is also a former Catholic priest I don't have a whole lot of information on that part of his life, but he had a service mentality to others. And so while Mr Prada, a 20-year-old Tarantowski was not, at least in the short time since the murder or homicide has occurred, was not a client, as of what police know at this point, he actually was at his apartment on a day it was a Saturday, I don't know the exact date, but it was a Saturday and Dr Abraham, again, who all accounts say that Mr Prada wasn't one of his clients, one of his patients here's on camera walking into the apartment complex of Mr Prada, of Mr Prada and then after he walked out at some point, he didn't walk back out and Mr Prada was seen by eyewitnesses. I'm not sure what level, what floor Mr Prada lived on second, third, fourth, fifth, I'm not sure which floor but he was seen by eyewitnesses that saw him struggling to carry down the steps of the complex, a blue tarp which looked to have something inside of it, and this blue tarp and what ended up being the body of Dr Abraham was found in Texas and Mr Prada was driving Mr Abraham's car. The clothes that Dr Abraham was wearing when they found him unfortunately passed away in this blue tarp. Those clothes matched the surveillance footage of when he walked into the Mr Proud apartment complex condo complex and went to the went to the went to that location and something happened. There was also a lot of blood that was found around the apartment. Seems like the police authorities have the right person, but again, time will tell.

Speaker 1: 27:17

The criminal justice process will go on. What's happening now is Mr Prada. This event happened near Baton Rouge, louisiana. He was found driving Dr Abraham's car in Texas, and so there's what they call extradition, and so the authorities in Louisiana are waiting for the state of Texas to extradite Mr Prada back to Louisiana, where the crime occurred, to go through the criminal process, the criminal justice process. So Dr Abraham helping people, a licensed counselor, judge Mullins, judge and person of the law Again, we don't know anything that he may or may not have been doing that caused the actions of Sheriff Mickey Steins, but he had a yearning to help others fighting addiction, and so that's tied into mental health.

Speaker 1: 28:24

And then we talk about the fines and court costs.

Speaker 1: 28:27

Here in Northeast Ohio, with a judge that again was what some may say was operating in what they call a debtor's prison, forcing individuals to pay that day, threatening jail time if they're not able to pay, and using those court costs and fines kind of as an income stream for the city of Stowe, the courthouse. I'm not sure where exactly that money kind of leads into at the end of the day, where it rests, what checking account or what savings account that goes into or what savings account that goes into. So hopefully this episode has been interesting because we've started again a little bit, we're pivoting a little bit to kind of add to our repertoire and including true crime, true crimes that have occurred and court proceedings that are occurring, to share the links that we've found and we're finding with mental health and being a voice for an individual who has deceased, the family members, the judge, the bail of the community. So until next time, I am your host. Founder, executive director of Voices for Voices, Justin Allen Hayes. Please be a voice for you or somebody in need.