NORTH ANDOVER — The off-duty North Andover police officer who was shot in her home by one of her colleagues who was serving her with a restraining order continues to be held without bail as her defense team files a second appeal of that decision.
Essex County Superior Court Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman denied Kelsey Fitzsimmons’ bail petition Friday. The superior court judge was presented with the petition after Fitzsimmons’ defense team appealed an Aug. 7 bail decision ordered in Lawrence District Court, which deemed her a danger to herself and the public.
The court order made in Lawrence, issued by Judge Carol-Ann Fraser, allows Fitzsimmons to remain in the hospital to receive medical treatment. As of Monday afternoon, Fitzsimmons remained in the hospital, her lawyer Timothy Bradl said.
Bradl and another Fitzsimmons lawyer, Martha Coakley, filed another bail appeal at 8 a.m. Monday morning, along with a comprehensive release plan for reconsideration, Bradl said.
McCarthy-Neyman ruled Fitzsimmons, 28, will remain in pretrial detention as no condition of release would reasonably assure the safety of Patrick Noonan, the police officer who shot her, or the community at large, the judge said.
On June 30, three North Andover police officers went to Fitzsimmons’ 125 Phillips Brooks Road home to serve her with an abuse prevention order filed by her fiance, North Andover firefighter Justin Aylaian, the father of her baby. Authorities said an armed confrontation took place when she was served with the order, resulting in her suffering a gunshot wound.
Fitzsimmons was struck with a single gunshot to her chest by Noonan after she pointed her service weapon at him in her upstairs bedroom, police stated in an official report following the incident. They allege she pulled the trigger, but it did not fire. Noonan stated that Fitzsimmons tried to reload the gun’s chamber after it didn’t fire, prompting him to shoot her, according to the police report.
Fitzsimmons, however, has claimed she tried to kill herself in the moment when her child was being taken away from her and never pointed the gun at anything other than her temple.
She was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital for her injury, where she remains more than a month and a half later, Bradl said.
Fitzsimmons, 28, was arraigned on one count of armed assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon Aug. 7 in Lawrence District Court, where she appeared via video feed.
McCarthy-Neyman outlines allegations in the case in her findings report about how the police officers said Fitzsimmons told the three of them that all her weapons were safe in the basement.
The judge also notes how Fitzsimmons was gathering her child’s belongings as part of the restraining order to turn over custody of the baby to Aylaian. While she was gathering the baby’s items in the bedroom, Fitzsimmons allegedly reached for a firearm and pointed it at Noonan, according to McCarthy-Neyman’s findings.
The judge found Fitzsimmons’ dishonesty about telling the three officers that all her guns were secured in the basement when one was at arms length in her bedroom to be “the most troubling fact” during a dangerousness hearing in Essex Superior Court on Thursday, when McCarthy-Neyman took evidence presented under advisement.
Additionally, McCarthy-Neyman wrote in the court document that “the court has not been presented with a satisfactory release plan.”
The new bail appeal, made by Bradl and Coakley on behalf of Fitzsimmons, includes a proposed release plan for Fitzsimmons once she is discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital. The plan asks the court to impose an agreement under Massachusetts General Law Section 87 where she would agree to whatever terms the court sees fit rather than the Section 58A conditions involving someone accused of abuse or a restraining order.
The appeal states Fitzsimmons agrees to be under the pretrial supervision of the Essex County Probation Department and agrees to wear a GPS bracelet for around-the-clock monitoring.
Fitzsimmons also said she agrees to follow the medical plan of her psychiatrist and the MGH psychiatry team. Once discharged, she would undergo one-on-one weekly therapy and “stepdown” to partial hospitalization level of care.
The release plan would also include cognitive model psychotherapy three times a week.
The appeal further states Fitzsimmons agrees to live with her family while she is monitored by the Essex County Probation Department.
Her lawyers state imposing Section 87 will allow the Essex Probate and Family Court to make its own restraining order and child custody findings based on “full evidentiary hearings” from both sides involved in pending custody and restraining order proceedings.