Man deemed incompetent for trial in child kidnapping, murder wfmj.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wfmj.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Psychologist Jared Moore testified that Rushdi has paranormal and supernatural delusions and believes the “devil is trying to use the system to break him down.” Moore said it would be best for Rushdi to stay at the state hospital. Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Wills agreed and said that while the criminal case will remain active should his condition improve, the state hospital is the safest place for him to be.
Authorities said the child was kidnapped in August 2013 from the Upper Darby home of Rushdi s parents, and they allege he killed the boy and disposed of the body. The remains were never found despite a search of the borough and the rural York County area where the defendant shared a home with the boy’s mother and other relatives.
Authorities said the child was kidnapped from Rushdi s parents home in Upper Darby Township in Delaware County. Rushdi was arrested in August 2013 and placed in custody in Delaware County, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Rushdi s case was moving forward until August 2017, when a Delaware County Court of Common Pleas judge, acting on a psychiatric examination, determined he was incompetent to stand trial.
Rushdi in 2018 was involuntarily committed to Norristown State Hospital, a state-funded psychiatric hospital near Philadelphia, where the case has since been revisited several times in court, with Rushdi deemed still incompetent to stand trial each time, according to court records.
Accused baby killer may never see trial due to mental illness, judge rules Vinny Vella, The Philadelphia Inquirer
In the waning summer heat of August 2013, police from Upper Darby spent a week frantically searching for the body of a missing infant. Working with cadaver dogs, helicopters and officers borrowed from other departments, they scoured the borough, then widened their search to rural York County, where the suspect in the disappearance lived.
The seven-month-old baby, Hazma Ali, was never found. His mother’s boyfriend, Ummad Rushdi, confessed that he shook the child to death and hid the body in an undisclosed location, court records show.
Man deemed incompetent for trial in child kidnapping, murder Follow Us
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By - Associated Press - Tuesday, May 4, 2021
MEDIA, Pa. (AP) - A man accused of having kidnapped and killed his girlfriend’s 7-month-old son in the Philadelphia suburbs almost eight years ago has been deemed incompetent to stand trial for the foreseeable future due to mental illness.
Doctors from Norristown State Hospital testified at a Delaware County hearing late last month that the mental illness of 30-year-old Ummad Rushdi is not improving, making him unable to participate in a trial or accept a plea deal from prosecutors.