Napa Homicide Suspect Declared Mentally Incompetent To Stand Trial: Report

NAPA, CA — A man accused of killing a stranger and dumping his body beneath a downtown Napa bridge has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.

A judge ordered Ramiro Ochoa Mendoza, 36, into the custody of the Department of State Hospitals after two court-appointed doctors concluded he is unable to understand court proceedings or assist in his own defense. A Napa County Superior Court judge suspended the case against Ochoa Mendoza over concerns about his mental health.

The Department of State Hospitals will now determine where Ochoa Mendoza should be housed — at Napa State Hospital or a psychiatric facility.

Ochoa Mendoza faced a first-degree murder charge in the June killing of Noel Batres, 47, whose body was found under Napa’s Third Street bridge near the river, according to the Napa County District Attorney's office. The case stunned the community because the slaying occurred shortly after a string of other troubling cases against Ochoa Mendoza were dismissed.

Authorities say Ochoa Mendoza, who was unhoused and had a history of arrests dating back to at least 2018, allegedly struck Batres with a metal pole and left him under the bridge. He was arrested July 11 and faced a possible sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ochoa Mendoza had several previous arrests, including 2022 felony charges for taking a vehicle and carrying a stabbing weapon, the Napa Valley Register reported.

This spring, police arrested him twice within six weeks. In March, he violated a restraining order by shouting profanities outside a woman’s home, according to authorities. In April, officers found him digging in a stranger’s backyard while talking to himself and later booked him for resisting arrest and methamphetamine possession, according to reports.

In April, a judge declared Ochoa Mendoza a “mental health doubt," halting prosecution on his misdemeanor cases, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Those cases were dismissed under state law after doctors found him incompetent to stand trial.

The court ordered mental health diversion for Ochoa Mendoza with supervised release for the misdemeanors, the district attorney's office said.

Mendoza failed to appear in court for his mental health diversion review and was
found to be out of compliance with the diversion program.

on July11, three days after his court no-show and the dismissal of his two misdemeanor charges, Napa police arrested Ochoa Mendoza and charged him with the murder of Batres

Napa County Deputy D.A. Katie Susemihl, who is prosecuting the case against
Mendoza, said in July that the case "highlights the real-world impact of the recent legal reforms."

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