WASHINGTON — The younger brother of NFL players Vernon and Vontae Davis was deemed temporarily incompetent Friday to stand trial on charges that he killed a man visiting the nation’s capital from Colorado and assaulted two others in separate attacks.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Morin accepted the recommendation of a clinical psychologist who evaluated Michael Davis, 19, and who found him to be suffering from severe psychiatric disorders and unable to understand the legal proceedings against him.
Davis was charged this week with first-degree murder in the April 24 death of Gary Dederichs, a 66-year-old retired nurse who was staying in a private home in a residential neighborhood and was killed while walking alone in the area.
He was earlier charged with assault with intent to kill in two nonfatal attacks in the same neighborhoods and is suspected in two additional assaults that police believe are related.
Neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers objected Friday to the incompetency finding. He will receive treatment and continued evaluation at a Washington psychiatric hospital and is due back in court in two months. He was admitted for psychiatric treatment last year after experiencing hallucinations, laughing and yelling inappropriately at school, and lying on the bathroom floor at home for an hour talking to himself, according to court papers. A mental examination said he showed paranoid behaviors.
Elizabeth Teegarden, a clinical psychologist, said Davis struggled to understand the charges against him and appeared unaware of fundamental principles of the judicial process —such as his rights as a defendant, the role of courtroom staff and his plea options.
“He was unaware of these issues when they were introduced to him, and he was unable to learn the concepts,” Teegarden said.
Police immediately noted similarities between the attacks.
The assaults occurred over a three-day period in a small radius of the northwest neighborhood of Petworth, where Davis was living with his grandmother. The victims were approached from behind and struck with a hammer or claw-style object. In all five cases, nothing was stolen from any of the victims.
Prosecutors sought to strengthen their case at a preliminary hearing Friday, where a detective testified that none of the five victims had been carrying weapons or provoked arguments before being attacked.
“Since Michael Davis was arrested, are you aware of any blunt-force trauma assaults having been committed in the Petworth neighborhood?” asked prosecutor Robert Feitel.
“No, not to my knowledge,” said the detective, Gabriel Truby.
Vernon Davis plays tight end for the San Francisco 49ers, and Vontae Davis is a cornerback for the Miami Dolphins.
