Elijah Dean, accused in brutal Rockland County stabbing, suffers from mental illness, attorney says
NEW CITY, N.Y. -- CBS New York has learned more about the victim and the suspect in last week's attack on a man outside his Rockland County home.
The victim's injuries are far more serious than first known.
On Tuesday, the family of the suspect spoke out through an attorney about his struggle with mental illness.
Elijah Dean was a top student-athlete at Spring Valley High School in 2018 who went on to play football at Western Connecticut State University before leaving school in 2020.
Now, Dean, 23, is charged with attempted murder, accused of viciously stabbing a man in the driveway of a New City home.
"The family, their heart goes out to the victim in this matter," defense attorney Yvonne Garbett said.
Garbett said this is a tragic set of circumstances.
The April 11 stabbing attack on Trailside Place nearly claimed the life of an Orthodox Jewish man. Prosecutors say he's still hospitalized and facing additional surgery, but may never fully recover.
Dean lived a half-mile away. The felony complaint says he approached the victim and attacked without provocation, stabbing him in the abdomen, head, neck and arm.
In court Tuesday, the defense said Dean struggles with mental illness.
"Getting him treatment and keeping him compliant with his medication and treatment has been an issue. Anyone that knows him is in shock that he's charged with these offenses," Garbett said.
Garbett said she will request a mental health evaluation to see if Dean is fit to stand trial.
Dean currently faces unrelated misdemeanor charges in Orange County that include endangering the welfare of a child. As for the case in Rockland, attempted murder is the top charge.
Ramapo police are continuing to investigate but said so far the evidence does not support charging the April 11 attack as a hate crime.