Maine murder case sparks custody battle

PORTLAND, Maine - The slaying last fall of a 21-year-old Portland woman whose body was found floating in a stream in Bowdoinham has given rise to a child custody battle between relatives of both the victim and the man charged with her murder.

Joel Olavarria's mother and Jennifer Soto's sister have submitted competing petitions for guardianship of the couple's two children, daughter Waleska, 3, and son Eliezel, 1.

At issue is what living arrangement is in the children's best interest and how their father's status as the accused killer factors into the custody decisions.

"The loss of their mother and father really presents a host of issues and concerns. This will produce tremendous anguish," said Bruce St. Thomas, a South Portland therapist and grief counselor who is not directly involved with the families.

On Oct. 28, the day after Soto's body was found, Olavarria, 27, brought his children to the South Portland home of his mother and stepfather, Rosa and Jose Ojeda. After checking himself into a psychiatric hospital, he submitted himself for arrest and has been held without bail ever since. The case could go to trial in October.

Since the slaying, the children have been living with the Ojedas. But Soto's sister, Vanessa Soto, who lives in New York with her husband and three children, petitioned for custody in February.

After the children's court-appointed guardian ad litem recommended the Ojeda home as the best option, a Cumberland County Probate Court hearing led to a proposed agreement that the children's grandmother maintain custody and that the victim's sister be granted visitation rights.

Vanessa Soto has yet to decide whether to sign off on the agreement.

She has consulted with a Portland lawyer, who said Soto is still considering whether to continue to press for custody.

If Soto rejects the proposal, the case would remain contested and could eventually go to a civil trial.