“Dr. Marciani also holds the opinion that the defendant is incapable of understanding the court proceedings and assisting in his defense,” court records said.
Champaign County Common Pleas Court Judge Nick Selvaggio adopted the psychiatrist’s findings that Stevenson is incompetent to stand trial, according to court documents.
Stevenson is facing charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of his mother, Pamela Combs, 66. The case has been put on hold as Stevenson has been sent to Twin Valley Behavioral Health Hospital in Columbus for treatment, Champaign County Prosecutor Kevin Talebi said.
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“The official ruling was that he was found incompetent to stand trial and it was recommended he be sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment to see if he can be restored to competency,” Talebi said.
According to court records, Marciani said Stevenson, “could be restored to competency if afforded the opportunity to participate in treatment.”
“Dr. Marciani’s original opinion does not suggest the length of time it will take to restore the defendant to competency,” court records said.
According to court records, Stevenson “shall continue to be evaluated and treated at Twin Valley for a period not to exceed four months to determine whether there is a substantial probability that the defendant will become competent to stand trial within one year.”
If Stevenson has not, “been restored to competency within the provided time,” another court hearing will be held, “to address next steps,” court records said.
Talebi said it’s unusual for an adult to be found incompetent to stand trial.
“You almost never see this. It’s not unusual for the defense counsel to raise it, but it’s very rare, in my personal experience, that someone is ruled not competent. It’s unusual,” Talebi said.
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Urbana police have not released details about how Stevenson’s mother died but Champaign County Coroner Dr. Joshua Richards said autopsy results show she died of both blunt and sharp force trauma.
In a 911 call obtained by the Springfield News-Sun, a cousin of Combs told dispatchers the day Combs was found dead that she was concerned about Combs’ safety and asked for an officer to check on her.
The welfare check quickly turned into a murder investigation when officers arrived at the home in the 600 block of Lionel Drive and found Combs dead inside.
A statement from Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell released shortly after Combs died said, “Because of the serious nature of this crime, police will not be addressing how our victim was killed, what the motive may have been, what physical evidence we’ve collected, not elaborate on what we’ve learned from people that we’ve spoken with in relation to this homicide.”
Stevenson was indicted and charged in Combs’ murder on Jan. 6. The Springfield News-Sun reached out to Stevenson’s attorney, Matthew Barbato of McNamee Law Office in Beavercreek, and did not receive a response.
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