July 7, 2017 at 4:07 p.m.
Tran charged with bail jumping
Homicide defendant accused of visiting with daughter at parade
Tran charged with bail jumping
According to the criminal complaint, Ellen L. Tran contacted the temporary foster mother caring for her 18-month-old daughter and eventually met up with her at the Rhinelander Fourth of July parade. Once she located the woman and child at the parade, the complaint alleges Tran spent 30 to 45 minutes interacting with her daughter.
According to the bond conditions set forth by Judge Patrick O'Melia, Tran is to follow all directives set forth by the court in the Children in Need of Protection (CHIPS) case involving her children.
According to the complaint, the CHIPS order allows Tran three visits per week with the 18-month-old, but the visits must be supervised by Oneida County Social Services or a contracted provider.
The foster mother is not a contracted provider, the complaint notes.
Social services alerted the sheriff's department of the alleged contact Tuesday after a source sent a caseworker two photographs from the parade showing Tran and the foster mother with Tran's daughter.
The detectives arrested Tran for bail jumping on Wednesday after a follow-up interview with the foster mother revealed that Tran had allegedly sent her numerous text messages asking her to come to a rummage sale and asking where they were watching the parade from downtown.
According to the report by detective sergeant Chad Wanta, the text messages show the contact at the parade was not accidental but intentional and that Tran should have known it was a violation of her bond conditions.
Tran made an initial appearance on the bail jumping charge Thursday afternoon. Judge Michael Bloom set a $10,000 signature bond on the new charge and reiterated to Tran that she cannot see her children except under the conditions set forth in the CHIPS order.
She will make an adjourned initial appearance on that charge on Aug. 16 before Branch I judge Patrick O'Melia, at the same time she is formally arraigned on the original charge.
According to the criminal complaint in that case, deputies and medics responded to the Tran home the evening of April 14 and transported Avery J. Edwards to Ministry St. Mary's Hospital in Rhinelander. Edwards was then flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield where he passed away just after midnight on April 15.
The preliminary autopsy report listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head. At the preliminary hearing late last month, Dr. Doug Kelley, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy, testified Edwards had bruises on his head from six distinctive injuries.
In interviews with police, Ellen Tran claimed the boy fell in the shower but couldn't explain how the fall happened, although she claimed she was with Edwards in the shower the entire time.
Following the testimony, O'Melia ruled there was probable cause to move the case forward. District attorney Michael Schiek has until the arraignment date to decide if he will file an information with the same charge or a more serious charge.
If convicted of the original class D felony, Tran faces a fine of up to $100,000 and up to 25 years in prison.
Felony bail jumping is a class H felony, with a maximum punishment of $10,000 and up to six years in jail.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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