A 22-year-old man accused of killing his parents in their Point Loma home is not mentally competent to stand trial, a judge ruled Friday.
Peter Haynes, 22, will instead be sent to Patton State Hospital for treatment. Haynes -- who has been diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia -- will remain at the hospital for up to three years, or until his competency is restored.
The suspect’s arraignment was been postponed after his defense attorney argued Haynes cannot understand the charges against him and assist in his own defense.
He was ordered to undergo mental evaluations in December, days after his parents, David and Lissa, were killed.
On Nov. 28, 2014, the day after Thanksgiving, officers found the couple’s front door ajar and the parents suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. They died shortly after at the hospital.
Police say they found Haynes hours later walking near the crime scene with a semi- automatic handgun in his pocket.
His sister, Kimberly, told NBC 7 Hays has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Two weeks before her parents’ deaths, she posted a picture to Facebook that showed her brother teaching her how to hold a gun.
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If he’s declared competent to stand trial, Haynes will face two counts of first-degree murder, with special circumstances that hint at premeditation. Prosecutors say Haynes was lying in wait when he shot his parents and that he committed a burglary in the commission of the homicides.
