CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The suspect in the Aug. 28 shooting, 34-year-old graduate student Tailei Qi, was deemed unfit to stand trial in Orange County Superior Court on Monday.
A second mental health evaluation ordered by the prosecution found that the suspect has a severe mental illness that prevents him from being able to stand trial.
“Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations, engaged in self-harm in the detention center, showed fragmented thought processes that impeded his communication … his behavior was consistent with severe mental illness,” the judge in this case said.
Though the suspect is currently deemed unfit, that does not mean he will never stand trial. According to Carissa Byrne Hessick, a UNC Law Professor, the suspect may be able to stand trial after receiving mental health treatment.
“Whether someone is competent to stand trial or not is really about what they can and can’t do for the trial itself,” Hessick said. “So it is quite possible for someone who is originally found incompetent to stand trial to receive medical care, whether in the form of medication or something else, that would then result in the defendant becoming competent to stand trial.”
The suspect will receive mental health treatment at Central Regional Hospital in Butner, NC.