By admin 
WACO, Texas (KWTX) – McLennan County District Attorney Josh Tetens said Wednesday that his office has agreed to the finding that Nicolas Jaimes-Hernandez is incompetent to stand trial in an effort to expedite the resolution of the multi-victim murder cases .
Jaimes-Hernandez, 37, who remains paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by police during the Sept. 29, 2022, incident, is charged with murder in the deaths of Monica Aviles and her teenage children, Miguel Avila and Natalie Avila.
Monica, her son Miguel and her daughter Natalie.(Courtesy of photos)
Jaimes-Hernandez lived with Aviles, 38, on South Monroe Street in McGregor and has lived in Texas for 20 years, his attorney Clay Thomas said.
He is also charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of Lori Aviles and her 20-year-old daughter Natalie, who lived next door.
Lori and Natalie Aviles.(KWTX)
Jaimes-Hernandez is also charged with two counts of aggravated assault in the drive-by shooting of Jeronimo Olvera Jr. and the attempted shooting of Jeronimo Olvera Sr. at a home in the 800 block of Monroe that same day.
“After one doctor found the defendant incompetent and another doctor was unable to determine whether he was competent, a third opinion, even if positive for us, would not definitively determine competency,” Tetens said. “Our goal is to move the business forward. The law does not allow any action to be taken in the case until the jurisdiction is finally resolved.
“Agreement to a finding of incompetence results in the defendant being sent to a mental health facility, where medical professionals work to restore competency. This is the most efficient way to get justice for these families and for this community,” Tetens said.
Tetens said his office informed Thomas and relatives of the victims of his decision on Wednesday.
“I feel like we kept the families up to date enough where they understood,” Tetens said. “They handled it well. It wasn’t the news they were hoping for, but they weren’t totally surprised.”
Tetens said uncertainty about Jaimes-Hernandez’s incompetence will further delay a decision by his office on whether to seek the death penalty in the case.
Judge Thomas West of the 19th State District Court has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 26 to discuss the jurisdictional issue for Jaimes-Hernandez.
Now that the issue is no longer in dispute, that hearing could culminate in a mental commitment hearing, with West sending Jaimes-Hernandez to a secure state hospital for up to 180 days in an effort to restore his competency.
If doctors then determine that he is not competent to stand trial, the judge can extend Jaimes-Hernandez’s hospitalization for up to a year.
Thomas filed a motion Wednesday asking West to review Dr. Jaimes-Hernandez’s Gilbert Martinez, who deemed his investigation “inconclusive” due to Jaimes-Hernandez’s belligerence and unwillingness to cooperate.
Tetens said the defense motion “did not weigh on our decision.”
Thomas charged in his motion to quash Martinez’s report that the report’s 17 pages “provide an overload of cherry-picked and unsubstantiated facts, poorly conducted research, and exhibit, at best, a failure in proper judgment, or, at worst case, a deliberate neglect. of the data available to him.”
Thomas said Wednesday that he agrees with Teten’s decision.
“I think this is the right step. He clearly has problems and there is no way he will appear in court in the mental state he is in,” Thomas said. ‘However, I understand how upset the families of the victims may be. I understand that. But the reality is that you can’t take a man to court if he doesn’t understand where he is. I know this is hard for the families. I wish I had a way to explain that to them.”
Prosecutors chose Martinez to evaluate Jaimes-Hernandez because he speaks Spanish. There were concerns about a language barrier during Dr.’s evaluation. Lee Carter, despite Carter’s use of a Spanish translator.
Carter of Waco, who evaluated Jaimes-Hernandez in June, found him incompetent, writing in a report that he was “severely paranoid, mentally confused, delusional and combative.”
Martinez wrote in his report that “due to his lack of cooperation, specific areas of competency were not adequately evaluated, such as the ability to understand the nature or subject matter of the proceeding, understand the potential consequences, or communicate with counsel.”
Martinez reported to the court that he could not draw a proper conclusion because Jaimes-Hernandez “was angry and combative and did not properly engage the investigator or answer questions specifically related to his mental health or personal history.”
“It was also noted that he shouted profanities at the examiner during both assessments, and did not cooperate with any form of standardized testing or interviewing,” Martinez wrote.
Carter’s investigation revealed that Jaimes-Hernandez is unable to understand the allegations or the severity of the possible consequences; is unable to consult his lawyer or assist him in his defense; lacks the ability to demonstrate appropriate behavior in court; and lacks the ability to testify.
McGregor officers and other agencies who responded to the scene reported seeing Jaimes-Hernandez shoot twice from the gray pickup truck he drove into Olvera’s home. Officers shot Jaimes-Hernandez and reported finding a 9mm handgun and ammunition in the truck before taking Jaimes-Hernandez to the hospital for treatment of his wounds.
He was released from the hospital on October 17, 2022 and remained in isolation in the prison’s medical unit.
“Sir. Jaimes does not realize he is mentally ill and refuses to comply with treatment,” Carter wrote in his report. “His medical needs and the severity of his impairment have progressed sufficiently that he cannot participate in a community-based competency restoration program.”
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