The suspect in the murder of a 4-year-old boy will not face a trial on murder charges, a Texas judge ruled Friday. Darriynn Brown has been...
The suspect in the murder of a 4-year-old boy will not face a trial on murder charges, a Texas judge ruled Friday.
Darriynn Brown has been accused of kidnapping and killing 4-year-old Cash Gernon in Dallas last year. On Friday, a Texas magistrate agreed with the findings of a psychologist and a psychiatrist who found Brown incompetent to stand trial, according to KDFI-TV.
Brown’s defense team has claimed Brown, who suffers hallucinations, was in a trance-like state at the time the child was killed.
The prosecution’s medical expert also ruled that Brown was not competent.
“He can finally get the help that he needs, so he can assist us in his representation,” defense attorney Heath Harris said.
“Maybe someday we can get to the facts of this case, which we believe are going to show he has a mental defect that potentially led to this tragedy. He may be entitled to an insanity defense,” Harris continued.
“Both reports basically reflect what Mr. Harris and I have been experiencing with our client, Darriynn. He is not competent, and he needs to get treatment,” defense attorney Valerie Baston said.
Brown is now on a waiting list to be transferred from jail to a mental health facility, according to WFAA-TV.
Police had identified Brown as the man pictured on a home surveillance video who took the boy from his bedroom. At the time, Gernon was in the home of a woman who knew his father.
The boy’s body was found the next morning. He had been stabbed to death.
“Our society has rules regarding competency,” said Robert Sanders, who is a former prosecutor and defense attorney, according to KDFI-TV.
Sanders said it is uncertain if Brown, who was 18 at the time of the crime, will ever stand trial.
Brown also faces charges of burglary and injuring an elderly person in connection with a February 2021 incident.
“If we could have gotten him the treatment that he needed then, you know, this tragedy may have never happened,” Harris said, WFAA reported.
“We ask people to be patient in forming their opinions or judgments about this,” Baston said, according to KDFI-TV.
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