Court date reset in Springdale death
Mental fitness remains issue for suspect in ’13 stabbing
FAYETTEVILLE — The case of a Springdale man charged in 2013 with capital murder is being kept on the court docket in case he someday becomes mentally fit to stand trial.
Juan Pablo Perez-Lopez has been undergoing treatment by doctors at the Arkansas State Hospital or a lockdown facility for several years after being involuntarily committed by Washington County Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay.
Perez-Lopez had a court date Friday, but he wasn’t brought from the hospital in Little Rock to Fayetteville. Lindsay set a new court date almost a year out: July 28, 2022.
Motorists called Springdale police in February 2013 about two men fighting on Huntsville Avenue and said one of them had a knife and was riding away on a bicycle.
Police found Perez-Lopez on a bicycle with a knife and bloody hands, then found Jesus Cecilio Villalobos, 48, in a parking lot with multiple stab wounds in his chest and his throat cut, according to a search warrant affidavit. Perez-Lopez told police he went to Walmart, stole a knife and returned to Latino Tires with the intention of stabbing Villalobos because he thought Villalobos was making fun of and taking advantage of him.
Capital murder, if convicted, is punishable by life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
Lindsay signed the original commitment order at the behest of Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett in 2016. The order said Perez-Lopez is a danger to himself or others and should remain at the State Hospital as long as he remains mentally unfit. Doctors periodically report to Lindsay on his condition.
“Nothing of substance in the case can happen while he is not fit to proceed,” Durrett said Tuesday. “That’s why we just keep kicking it down the road every time.”
Durrett noted a distinction between someone being found not fit to proceed, opposed to being found not criminally responsible by a judge.
“If he were not criminally responsible, he would be acquitted by reason of mental disease and sent to the state hospital,” Durrett said.
Perez-Lopez’s attorneys notified the judge in 2016 they were having trouble working with him. An initial examination at the Arkansas State Hospital found Perez-Lopez fit for trial, but a second examination called his mental fitness into question, and he was again committed for treatment.
A report by Melissa Dannacher, a psychologist at the State Hospital, diagnosed Perez-Lopez with schizophrenia and antisocial disorder.
Doctors said in 2018 further efforts to restore Perez-Lopez to competency aren’t likely to result in significant improvement.
“At the time of the examination, Mr. Perez-Lopez lacked the capacity to understand the proceedings against him, as well as the capacity to effectively assist his attorney in his own defense, due to mental disease,” according to Dr. Lacey Willett Matthews. “Given my opinion that Mr. Perez-Lopez is not fit to proceed, opinions regarding criminal responsibility are deferred.”
Doctors also examined how dangerous Perez-Lopez may be. He was found to pose a moderate risk of violent behavior if released into the community or a less restrictive setting than the State Hospital.