San Mateo Mall Shooting Suspect Ruled Incompetent To Stand Trial
SAN MATEO (CBS/AP) -- A judge has ruled that the man accused of killing an East Palo Alto community leader at a San Mateo mall is not competent to stand trial.
San Mateo Superior Court Judge Mark Forcum decided on Thursday that 58-year-old Greg Elarms should be sent to a state mental hospital instead of facing trial in the death of David Lewis.
Elarms was charged with murder, use of a firearm and lying in wait in the fatal shooting of the 54-year-old Lewis on June 9, 2010 at the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo.
The charges made him eligible for the death penalty.
According to police, Elarms believed gang members were after him and Lewis, his childhood friend, had turned against him.
Lewis was co-founder of Free at Last, a group that helps people recover from substance abuse and incarceration.
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