A Fulton County judge says the man accused of a mass shooting inside a midtown Atlanta medical office last year is not competent to stand trial.
The judge ruled Tuesday that Deion Patterson cannot be tried “at this time” and must be committed to the care of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
“After consideration of all the medical and psychological evidence, the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is incapable of understanding the nature of the charges against him or of understanding the object of the proceedings against him and is incapable of rendering his attorney the proper assistance in his defense,” the order said.
Patterson, a 24-year-old military veteran, was accused of shooting five women inside a Northside Hospital clinic in May 2023 before going on the run and being caught hours later.
Patterson injured four women and killed a fifth, Amy St. Pierre, a mother of two and an employee of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.