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Evaluation delayed in capital murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge John M. Durkin granted a request by prosecutors to extend by 20 days an evaluation to determine if a man facing the death penalty is competent to stand trial.
Ricki Williams, 20, of Lansdowne Boulevard, will be transferred shortly to a facility in Columbus for a 20-day stay to conduct the evaluation.
Williams has been charged with eight felonies, including two counts of aggravated murder and two counts of aggravated burglary, in connection with the June 23, 2014, killing of 16-year old Gina Burger in Austintown.
A competency hearing was scheduled Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, but prosecutors asked for the extension because the doctor performing the study said he was not able to complete it.
Judge Durkin said he had read the evaluation, dated July 1, and it said an opinion could not be rendered on whether Williams is competent. No reason was given as to why the evaluation was not completed, although the judge said there was some suggestion that Williams was “malingering,” but there was no concrete evidence to support that he was stalling on purpose.
At issue is if Williams can understand the case against him and if he can assist in his own defense. If he is ruled incompetent to stand trial, he will be declared incompetent and will be treated for a year to see if his competency can be restored.
According to police reports, Gina had gone missing from an apartment in the Compass West complex in Austintown and her body was discovered in a landfill in Grove City, Pa., a few days later. She died from a stab wound to the chest.
A criminal complaint said Williams admitted to authorities he stabbed Gina and put her body in a playpen to transport it to a trash receptacle at the apartment complex. If convicted, Williams could face the death penalty.