81-year-old’s assault case continued

An 81-year-old woman’s assault case was continued today in Maricopa Municipal Court.

Province resident Mary Jane Ronca faces more than five years in prison after Maricopa Police Department lodged charges of domestic violence assault and disorderly conduct against her Aug. 23.

Police said she beat her husband and destroyed televisions inside the couple’s Lemon Drop Drive home that afternoon. Officers noted Ronca’s husband sustained visible injuries.

Ronca admitted to cops she ransacked the home during an argument but pleaded not guilty in court Sept. 18, Maricopa city prosecutor Murdock Holloway told InMaricopa.

Ronca’s defense attorney, Maricopa-based former Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles, told InMaricopa her pre-trial conference scheduled for today was continued to Nov. 14 at 3 p.m.

In the weeks following Ronca’s August trip to the Pinal County jail, several of her family members told InMaricopa the violent spurt was uncharacteristic and stemmed from a dementia diagnosis.

But court records reveal a violent criminal record dating back nearly two decades.

A scour of public records this week revealed Ronca was arrested on felony charges of aggravated battery after she attacked and caused “bodily harm and disfigurement” to a person in Naples, Fla., in 2004.

Ronca pleaded not guilty and demanded a jury trial in Collier County Circuit Court but after witnesses came forward, she took a plea deal, according to court records.

Ronca was ordered into a batterer’s intervention program and served a one-year probation sentence.

A new judge followed up on that case as recently as July 5, 2022, according to court records.

At her November hearing in Maricopa, Ronca can again opt for a plea deal — should one be offered — or schedule her trial date.