New charges have been filed against a woman who was charged in the death of a 13-year-old who was killed during a police pursuit last month.
Jessica S. Pichon, 27, of East Chicago, was charged in Lake Superior Court with failure to register as a violent sex offender between Dec. 20, 2016, and Feb. 16, 2017, for a felony allegedly committed as a juvenile in 2002 in Vermillion County, Ill., the probable cause affidavit states.
Pichon was charged with six counts of failure to register, all Level 6 felonies punishable by six months to 30 months.
While living in Lake County, Pichon registered or filled out change-of-address forms with Lake County police at least 56 times.
Following her arrest on Feb. 17, she gave an address in the 3700 block of Ivy Street in East Chicago, but a check with the leasing agent at that address found that Pichon had moved out “quite some time ago,” court records state.
A software registry program that tracks offenders who are required to register indicated that Pichon had left the Ivy Street address as of Oct. 4, 2015. In the intervening time, Pichon “bounced” between being homeless and staying at a mobile home park in Danville, Ill., records state. An investigation found that Pichon and her children’s father, Donnell Howard, with whom she was arrested in February, were homeless and living in a car.
Howard’s mother, who lives in Highland, told police that the couple had asked if they could stay with her, but because her housing is government subsidized, she told then they could not or she would be evicted, records state.
Pichon and Howard were charged with resisting law enforcement resulting in the death of Julianna Chambers, reckless homicide, and additional resisting counts in the Feb. 15 crash that killed the 13-year-old girl and severely injured the child’s grandmother, Theresa Paramo.
Pichon and Howard had been trying to elude police that day after stealing a case of beer from a grocery store when the fatal crash occurred at Gostlin Street and Columbia Avenue, according to court documents.
Both Howard and Pichon have pleaded not guilty.
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
