Mother Declared Unfit for Trial After Mental Health Battle

At 10:35 this morning, a jury of nine, three men and six women, returned to the courtroom with a unanimous verdict: insane, not fit for trial. That verdict was delivered at the fitness hearing of Natalie Palacio, the mother accused of maiming her young son. The hearing, presided over by Justice Candace Nanton, wasn’t about guilt or innocence, it was about whether Palacio could even stand trial. After listening to expert testimony from former psychiatric doctor Alejandro Matus-Torres, who conducted three evaluations over the past year, the jury agreed: Palacio suffers from severe mental illness, including active psychosis, and cannot understand court proceedings or instruct an attorney. Justice Nanton accepted the verdict and told Palacio she is free from the maim charge and will not return to court for this matter. Palacio had been out on bail since 2022, when she was first arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court. The case dates back to Easter 2022, when Palacio allegedly struck her seven-year-old son in the eye, causing permanent loss of vision. At the time, she claimed she “only stung him” after he dropped a baby, and said she hadn’t seen her children since that incident. Today’s decision closes a long chapter in this troubling case, highlighting the critical role of mental health evaluations in Belize’s justice system.