GOP leaders renew calls for SJC judge to resign

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- "The death of Isaiah Walton-Davis should have never happened."

That's St. Joseph County (SJC) Republican Party Chair, Jackie Horvath, once again calling for Probate Court Judge Jason Cichowicz, who is up for re-election, to resign.

Tuesday morning, GOP leaders held a news conference outside the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) that the judge oversees.

"Isaiah was failed by a system that was supposed to protect him," Horvath said.

They blame Judge Cichowicz, and the Bridge Link Program he runs at the JJC, for the murder of 20-year-old Isaiah Walton-Davis.

"He touts [Bridge Link] as a success even though it proved fatal," said Ben Horvath of Hoosier Conservative Voices.

Now, a fellow Democrat, former South Bend Councilmember Henry Davis Junior, joined the call for the judge's ouster too.

"Unaccountable, irresponsible, and he's giving off mediocre vibes," Davis said.

Back in July, some JJC inmates were taken on an outing to Four Winds Field for a South Bend Cubs game. During that outing, 18-year-old Cyjarron Odynski escaped, allegedly borrowing a phone and calling someone for a ride.

"They're not children in the third grade who need to go on a ballpark field trip. These are young men who have done things wrong and they're being held accountable for it," said SJC GOP Vice Chair, Joe Layne.

Four days later, Odynski allegedly shot Walton-Davis in a South Bend alley.

"This is a failed program that he is now campaigning on as a success," Layne said. "How do you gauge this as a success when the direct result is the death of a 20-year-old young man?"

Reliant leaders say this incident did not get enough attention, and they are stepping up publicly to endorse their candidate running against Cichowicz, Loris Zappia, but also to support the victim's family.

"His family should not have to bear the weight of this tragedy alone," Horvath said. "That is why I, on behalf of the St. Joe County GOP will be making a donation to cover the funeral costs for Isaiah Walton-Davis. We're about halfway there in raising the funds and will continue to work on that."

Judge Cichowicz did not respond to ABC57's Annie Kate's calls for comment. But she did get a call from Dr. Bill Bruinsma, the executive director of the JJC.

"For them to say that he should resign is basically political hyperbole," Bruinsma said. "He doesn't run the program directly, he has staff members who run the program."

He defended Cichowicz and the Bridge Link program for juveniles in custody.

"You know, this has been a really good program for us. It has provided a lot of services to children and families," he said. "And we have made changes since that unfortunate event."

The SJC Democratic Party confirmed they still support their incumbent candidate for another six years as Probate Court judge.

The race for probate court judge will be decided on Election Day, Nov. 5.

Early voting in SJC begins Oct. 8.