A competency hearing for a Cortez man accused of killing his mother last July has been delayed again pending a second mental health evaluation.
Jeremiah Damron’s trial has been delayed several times since he was ruled mentally incompetent to participate in his own defense in October. He appeared in court on Tuesday for a status conference after the Colorado Department of Human Services submitted a report about his mental state, but his defense attorney, John Moran, requested a second competency assessment. Montezuma County District Judge Todd Plewe granted the request, scheduling Damron’s next court appearance for 9:30 a.m. June 22.
Damron was ruled incompetent to stand trial after a preliminary examination showed he suffered from serious mental health issues. His court-ordered treatment through CDHS was delayed until February.
On Tuesday, Plewe said he had found a doctor to perform a second mental health assessment, but he wasn’t able to schedule an appointment with Damron until June.
Moran said Damron had appeared mentally competent earlier in the year, but recently he has started to behave similarly to the way he did in the time leading up to his mother’s death.
“It may be important for a future fact finder to be aware of a cyclical nature to his mental health issues,” Moran said.
Damron appeared more composed on Tuesday than he did in previous court appearances, when he often wept openly during the proceedings.
Damron, 36, was arrested July 20 on suspicion of homicide after the body of his mother, Kristie Damron, was found in his backyard on County Road 21.75. He was charged with first-degree murder on July 28 and is being held at Montezuma County Detention Center, with a protection order that forbids contact between him and several immediate family members. A first-degree murder charge carries a minimum sentence of life in prison and a maximum sentence of death.
