Murder suspect found mentally unfit for trial
Man may still be tried in Long Beach killings after treatment.
An Oklahoma man accused of using a shotgun to kill a Long Beach mother and her 4-year-old daughter last year was found mentally incompetent Tuesday to stand trial in the twin slayings.
Brandon Colbert, 23, will undergo treatment at a state hospital until a judge deems him fit to face murder charges in the August 2016 shooting deaths of Carina Mancera, 26, and her daughter, Jennabel Anaya. Colbert was arrested in the killings in November, but questions about his mental health and his insistence on acting as his own attorney have hung over a series of pretrial hearings in recent months.
Citing a nine-page medical report, Judge Jesse Rodriguez deemed Colbert unfit for trial and ordered him to be admitted to a state hospital for treatment. If he is restored to competency, he could still be tried in the slayings.
Jason Sias, an attorney appointed by the court to represent Colbert at the competency hearing, said it was unlikely that Colbert’s mental health would be reevaluated until he has spent at least 90 days in a hospital.
“Unfortunately, this is a tragic situation where two people have lost their lives. I don’t want to downplay that whatsoever. But there’s another issue with this case, and it’s dealing with mental health,” Sias said.
Colbert, who was handcuffed and wearing a padded blue prison jumpsuit, did not have any visible reaction to the decision. Several of the victims’ relatives were seated in court, including Jennabel’s grandmother, but they declined to comment on the ruling.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Barnes could be heard telling the victims’ relatives inside the courthouse that the ruling was “a good thing in the long run.” Outside of court, she said she believed treatment and medication would likely result in Colbert being able to stand trial at a later date.
The brazen nature of the shootings shocked Long Beach last year and left police scratching their heads. Mancera and her daughter were returning home from grocery shopping when, prosecutors say, Colbert emerged from a hiding spot and opened fire.
Mancera died almost instantly. Jennabel was severely wounded and died at a hospital a short time later. Colbert is also accused of firing a round at Mancera’s longtime boyfriend, Luis Anaya, but the shot missed and Anaya was uninjured.
Colbert — a native of Tulsa, Okla., who arrived in California for the first time just two days before the killings — was arrested in the shootings three months later when he was linked to the crime by DNA found on a spent shotgun shell. Prosecutors have not commented on a motive in the case or said whether Colbert knew the victims. Barnes declined to comment on a motive Tuesday.
The defendant’s mental health had become a central issue in the case. In 2014, Colbert was diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder, meaning he was exhibiting symptoms associated with schizophrenia, according to medical records provided to The Times by his mother.
In January, Colbert announced plans to represent himself at trial, over the objections of an attorney retained by his relatives. Since then, his defense strategy has largely involved trafficking in conspiracy theory.
Colbert’s trial was scheduled to begin this month, but in April, Rodriguez ordered a competency hearing. Near the end of that May 15 competency hearing, Colbert collapsed in the courtroom. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Colbert was treated at a hospital before he was returned to jail.
The spokesman would not elaborate on the medical incident.