Man Fit To Stand Trial For Mom's Death, Moved To Jail: Report

ROCKVILLE, MD — A 23-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing his mother in 2018 has been found competent to stand trial and will be transferred from a psychiatric hospital to jail.

According to Bethesda Beat, a judge ordered that Kevin Justin McGuigan, of Rockville, be transferred to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility from the state's psychiatric hospital.

McGuigan is charged with killing his mother — 49-year-old Jaclyn McGuigan — outside Saint Raphael Catholic Church in December 2018.

Witnesses told police that they heard loud screaming coming from outside the church and saw McGuigan standing over his mother. Police said McGuigan then fled the scene in his mother's Honda sedan. He was arrested at a local gas station less than 24 hours later.

Doctors treating McGuigan at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center determined he was incompetent to stand trial. McGuigan has been a patient at Perkins, the state's maximum-security psychiatric hospital in Jessup, ever since.

A doctor recently filed a report that found McGuigan was criminally responsible, and that his doctors no longer believe he needs medication, according to Bethesda Beat.

McGuigan's attorney, David Martella, said he was surprised to hear his client was not taking any medication.

"I'm surprised to hear that he's not taking any medication, because the report I have, at least the one submitted by the doctor, indicates that he was taking a psychotropic medication," Martella said, according to Bethesda Beat.

"I think moving him and putting him in a different atmosphere greatly increases the risk that he will decompensate, and that will work against his interests and everyone else's interest in this case," he said.

The news outlet reported that McGuigan will be held without bond at the correction facility, pending further court proceedings.