Indiana County President Judge William Martin has scheduled a hearing on July 9th to consider a new motion to determine the mental competency of Todd Walters, the 40-year-old Indiana man charged with the beating death of his mother in 2015. 72-year-old Ruth Shirey died at the Indiana Regional Medical Center hours after the attack and Walters was found later that day driving her car in Altoona.
Attorney Gary Knaresboro filed the motion on June 12th. Walters has undergone numerous mental health evaluations and has been involuntarily committed to Torrance State Hospital. He was finally determined to be fit to stand trial on June 11th last year, but since that time, he has had yet another mental health expert examine him and he has a second criminal case against him for an unprovoked attack on a fellow patient at Torrance.
In 2017, Judge Martin denied without prejudice a motion for diversion and civil commitment under the state’s Mental Health Procedures Act. That would mean implementing mental health treatment as an alternative to criminal penalties against Walters. Denying the motion “without prejudice” means Marti could consider it again, which he says he will do at the July 9th hearing. Walters will be present at the hearing.
