Attorney Gary Knaresboro yesterday filed a motion for a continuance of a hearing to determine the mental competency of Todd Walters to stand trial for the beating death of his mother. The hearing had been scheduled for tomorrow before Indiana County President Judge William Martin.
72-year-old Ruth Shirey was severely beaten at her home on Diamond Avenue in Indiana in February of 2015 and died soon afterward at the Indiana Regional Medical Center. Walters was arrested while driving his mother’s car in Altoona later that day and has undergone several mental health evaluations, including an involuntary commitment to Torrance State Hospital. He was declared mentally fit to stand trial in June of last year, but since then has had another mental health evaluation and a second criminal case has come against him for an unprovoked attack on a fellow patient at Torrance.
In April of 2017, Judge Martin ruled against a defense motion for diversion and civil commitment, which would have implemented mental health treatment as an alternative to criminal penalties, but he did allow for a motion asking for reconsideration, which was the intent of tomorrow’s now-delayed hearing.
