Suspect in 77-year-old woman's murder hasn't had his mental health evaluation yet
Loved ones of a slain 77-year-old Buckhead woman faced the man accused of killing her in court Tuesday. The victim's family expressed their frustrations in their fight for justice.
Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was inside the courtroom for a hearing for Antonio Brown, 25. The suspect is accused of stabbing Ellen Bowles to death inside her gated townhome community off West Paces Ferry Road in Dec. 2022.
More than two years later, the case against Brown is stalled. It was revealed in the hearing that Brown is still waiting to undergo a mental health evaluation to determine if he is fit to stand trial.
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'It was ordered 17 months ago, and the family is really in distress about this,' said Lynne Borsuk, the attorney for the Bowles' family. 'I think the family's in agony. This is deeply painful for them.'
Brown's lawyer, Anthony Pete, told the court that his client was transported from the Fulton County Jail to a mental health facility, but for some unknown reason, no one performed the evaluation.
Pete added that he tried to contact the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, which is the state agency that's in charge of conducting the evaluation and issuing the findings, but he hasn't been able to get any answers about his client's case.
'I have not been able to get in touch with anyone over there,' he told the judge.
Bowles' family declined to comment on camera, citing the pending criminal case, but a family spokeswoman told Channel 2 Action News that this is not an isolated problem.
'It is my understanding that there's a 700 person backlog for mental health competency evaluation in the state's system,' said Borsuk.
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Judge Farmer said that he's also frustrated by the delays and vowed to expedite the process by issuing another order to the state.
'Both parties need closure,' he said. 'Your defendants don't need to sit for a long time and victims don't need to have justice delayed.'
Seiden reached out to the state agency and a spokesperson sent the following statement:
'The Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities did receive a pretrial evaluation order in the case you cite,' wrote Kaleb McMichen, who serves as the executive director of external affairs. 'However, due to state and federal privacy laws, I am unable to comment any further. Our Office of General Counsel is reviewing the matter and will respond in an appropriate fashion.'
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