Midtown shooting suspect Deion Patterson ruled ‘mentally incompetent’ to stand trial

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Deion Patterson (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)

ATLANTA – Deion Patterson, suspect in Midtown Atlanta shooting caseHe was judged to be too mentally incompetent to stand trial. An order issued by Judge Eric Dunaway of Fulton County Superior Court ordered Patterson to be sent to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for evaluation and potential treatment.

The decision came after Judge Dunaway on October 3 found Patterson “unable to understand the nature of the charges or the purpose of the proceedings against him” and also found that he “was unable to assist his attorney in the preparation.” The court’s decision came after Patterson’s defense presented testimony from psychologist Dr. LeRoy Reese, who concluded that Patterson was not competent to stand trial. According to Reese, Patterson was unable to recall details of the incident, describing events as “fuzzy” and specific actions or only vaguely remembered places without interactions.

Under Georgia law, Patterson will be evaluated by the Department of Behavioral Health within 90 days to determine whether he has a “substantial likelihood” of achieving proficiency in the near future. If Patterson is later deemed competent, he will return to court for further proceedings. If he remains incompetent, the Ministry may detain him for an additional period of up to nine months for his treatment to continue.

The court’s decision also states that if Patterson is determined to be unlikely to obtain a driver’s license, a report will be prepared and Patterson will be returned to the custody of the Fulton County Sheriff. The department was also instructed to evaluate whether Patterson met the criteria for civil commitment.

Patterson is accused of shooting and killing a woman and wounding four others when he opened fire in the waiting room of a Midtown Atlanta medical office. On May 3, 2023. He fled the scene and was found hours later in Cobb County.

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In the shooting, 38-year-old Amy St. Pierre passed away. Patterson charged with murder and felony murder in his death.

He was also charged with four counts of attempted murder in the shootings of Jazzmin Daniel, Lisa Glynn, Alesha Hollinger and Georgette Whitlow.

Patterson is also charged with three counts of attempted battery, five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of committing a felony while assaulting with a weapon.

Authorities said Patterson stole a pickup truck he used to get away and shot and damaged another vehicle, resulting in one count of each theft and second-degree criminal damage to property, according to the indictment.

Patterson’s mother previously said he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard earlier in the year. She also said her son has a mental illness for which the Coast Guard helped him.