KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — William Paul Jones, a suspect arrested in connection to a hostage situation and murder, will be having a second mental evaluation, MLive reported Tuesday.
According to MLive, the evaluation was approved by Judge Pamela Lightvoet during a pretrial hearing on Monday. The motion was requested by the counsel of Jones.
The evaluation will be facilitated by the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry, which will decide whether he can be declared as legally insane at the time of the incident. If he is not found insane, another evaluation could be requested or the case would move to trial.
He previously had a preliminary hearing in August, during which he was bound over for all 19 charges he is facing. The charges stem from an incident in December 2019 that resulted in the death of Christopher Neal. The 22-year-old father was shot by Jones after he broke into his Comstock Township home on Proctor Avenue. His wife and young daughter were unharmed.
Court documents reveal that Jones had been exhibiting paranoid and erratic behavior in the days leading up to the incident. He had broken into Neal’s home after holding another friend hostage in a vehicle.
Investigators say that both Neal and Jones did not know each other before the standoff.
Three responding officers were shot and suffered non life-threatening injuries including State Trooper Mark Fletcher, Kalamazoo Public Safety Officer Caleb Jones and Kalamazoo sheriff’s deputy Noah Susick.
All injured officers made recoveries.
A short time later, Jones was apprehended after attempting to escape by diving through a window.
The charges are listed as follows:
- open murder
- felony murder
- three counts of assault with intent to commit murder
- first-degree home invasion
- unlawful imprisonment
- being a felon in possession of a firearm
- being a felon in possession of ammunition
- assaulting, resisting and obstructing an officer
- nine counts of felony firearm
Jones had previously been found competent to stand trial in March.
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