A new court filing indicates Christina Siders, the grandmother of 16 children rescued from a Vinton County home, could have dementia.
Siders, 68, is facing 19 counts of child endangerment and has been in jail since she was arrested on June 30 alongside her husband, Gary Siders Sr.; son, Gary Siders Jr.; and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Siders.

On Friday, Christina Siders’ attorney filed a new motion asking for $7,000 to cover the costs of a dementia evaluation for her client.

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Kandra Roberts, Christina Siders’ attorney, wrote that her client had sat for a competency evaluation on Sept. 5, the results of which were issued on Tuesday.

Roberts said the doctor who evaluated Christina Siders wrote that she has several risk factors for dementia, and that a full neurological evaluation would be necessary to fully evaluate her.

According to court documents, Roberts and her team consulted neuropsychologist Dr.

Jeffrey Madden, who said two experts would be needed to determine if Christina has dementia.

Madden also allegedly said Christina Siders’ “cognitive impairment, medical history and existing risk factors” mean she should be analyzed.

Roberts said the necessary consultation would require 20 hours and $7,000.

Roberts wants the court to pay for the coverage because she argues its necessary to the case.
“Whether Mrs.

Siders does suffer from dementia will necessarily weigh heavily on this court’s determination of whether she is competent to stand trial and, perhaps even more pertinent, whether there is a reasonable likelihood of restorability,” Roberts wrote.

Christina Siders was arrested when officers attempted to serve a search warrant to obtain Gary Siders Jr.’s DNA.

The four Siders adults were living in a small home in the village of Hamden alongside 16 children, ages 1 through 18.

Investigators said the children allegedly living in a 12-by-12 room in “horrific” conditions.

All four adults requested competency evaluations, but only Gary Siders Sr. has had a hearing.

The eldest Siders was found incompetent to sit for trial and unlikely to recover, and his attorney expects the child endangerment charges against Gary Siders Sr. to be dropped.