CINCINNATI — The man accused of murdering a woman and her 3-year-old son is competent to stand trial, Judge Megan Shanahan ruled on Tuesday.
That ruling means the death penalty could still be on the table when Desean Brown goes to trial. Shanahan scheduled that trial to begin on December 5, though previous trial dates set for Brown have been rescheduled in the past.
"The defendant Desean Brown, while he may have been suffering from bipolar disorder, his illness did not significantly impair his capacity to exercise rational judgment in relation to his conduct," Shanahan said.
It's been nearly three years since Nylo and Nyteisha Lattimore were tragically killed and Desean Brown was arrested for their murders. For the past year, Brown's attorneys have filed continuances for his trial as they worked to have mental health evaluations done on him.
In August 2022, Brown's attorneys filed two motions: One requested the death penalty be dismissed in Brown's case because of the mental illness; a second motion requested to vacate Brown's trial schedule to allow the prosecution to appoint their own expert to evaluate Brown.
Brown was originally scheduled to face trial on October 17. That trial date was pushed as a result of the competency hearing; Prosecutors said they intend to appoint an expert to perform their own evaluation of Brown, after a professional hired by the defense claimed Brown was suffering from "serious mental illness" when he allegedly killed the mother and son.
In all, three experts' evaluations of Brown were considered by Shanahan on Tuesday: Two initially agreed Brown suffered from serious mental illness, but one of those experts changed her opinion of how Brown's bipolar disorder affected his rational thinking after evaluating witness statements and case information.
Nyteisha was stabbed to death in her home Dec. 5, 2020 according to police. Her body would not be discovered until Dec. 12, 2020 when officers found it abandoned on Pete Rose Way in downtown Cincinnati.
Brown let Nyteisha's body sit in her apartment for at least five days, prosecutors said, before using a body bag to remove it from the apartment. Prosecutors said they believe Nylo was thrown into the river alive one day after Nyteisha's murder, on Dec. 6. Nylo's empty stroller was discovered along the Ohio River, not far from where his mother's body was located, on Dec. 13.
Nylo's body has never been recovered.
In June, Cincinnati police detectives told the judge it appears Nyteisha was pregnant with Brown's child, but had a miscarriage. Detectives believe Brown killed her and Nylo out of retaliation for the miscarriage.
Over the past three years, Brown's team has filed motions to dismiss the case against him entirely based on a multitude of factors, including insufficient evidence.
Watch Live:
