Who'll get Ragsdale boys?

PROVO — It's been nearly a week and a half since 9-year-old Lauren has seen her two little Ragsdale cousins, Brandon, 4, and Carter, 1.

"She's an only child," said Tamara Ragsdale, her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Those boys ... are like her little brothers."

On Jan. 6, the boys' mother, Kristy Ragsdale, was fatally shot in an LDS church parking lot in Lehi. Police say the boys' father, David Ragsdale, who had been served with temporary-separation papers just days before the shooting, was the gunman.

David Ragsdale was subsequently arrested, booked into jail and charged with aggravated murder. But the events of that day left two boys without parents and has led to a custody dispute between Kristy's and David's families.

Kristy's family wants the two boys — and says they shouldn't be with a family that is offering support to the man charged with their mother's murder.

David Ragsdale's sister, Tamara; her daughter, Lauren; and David's uncle, George Carlston, were in a Provo courtroom Wednesday to attend a hearing for David Ragsdale during which his attorney asked for more time to review evidence.

Defense attorney Greg Skordas held up a brown accordion folder expanded to the size of an Oxford English Dictionary and told Judge Claudia Laycock it was full of evidence he had just received from prosecutors.

"We're just not ready to schedule a (preliminary hearing) until we have all the evidence," Skordas said outside the courtroom. He doesn't expect too much more from prosecutors, although the medical examiner's report is still not finished.

Meanwhile, Skordas said David Ragsdale is being informally evaluated for mental health issues. Once Skordas knows his client's level of competency, he said he may file a motion to see if the judge will set a bail amount for Ragsdale.

He is currently being held without bail.

"I know to a lot of people this seems a very cut-and-dry, black-and-white case," said prosecutor David Sturgill. "But it's charged as aggravated murder, a capital felony. You really need to dot your i's and cross your t's. We want to make sure we do this right."

Prosecutors don't have to decide if they want to push for the death penalty until after a preliminary hearing.

Kristy's mother, Ann Palizzi, and other family and friends also came to the hearing. They talked with prosecutors afterward then left, making no comment to news reporters. The Ragsdales said they are "devastated" by the events.

The Ragsdale boys are in temporary, court-granted custody with Palizzi — but that doesn't stop the Ragsdale family from caring or thinking about them.

"We love those boys very much," Tamara Ragsdale said. "We want what's best for them."

Neither she nor Carlston would comment on upcoming custody hearings but emphasized they trust court officials to make the right decisions.

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