Delwante Hardy, the man accused of the fatal shooting of Cleveland Police Officer Jamieson Ritter and the murder of his grandmother, has been found incompetent to stand trial. As reported by FOX8, a judge has determined that Hardy is currently unfit to participate in legal proceedings and requires inpatient psychiatric care. Officials believe Hardy has a chance of regaining competency through a course of treatment.
According to the Court records obtained by News 5 Cleveland, Hardy underwent two psychiatric evaluations, which concluded that there is a "substantial probability of restoration to competency within the statutory time frame if provided with a course of treatment." Although found incompetent, Hardy has previously pleaded not guilty to numerous charges, including three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of attempted aggravated murder, among others.
Following the court's directives, Judge Ashley Kilbane ordered Hardy to undergo treatment at Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare Hospital in Columbus, OH. As explained in a report by Cleveland19 News, upon arrest, Hardy was accused of fleeing after shooting Officer Ritter on the fourth of July, as well as stealing and fatally shooting Beatrice Porter with a gun belonging to his grandmother on June 28.
Ohio Revised Code gives the suspect a statutory time frame of one year to assess the potential for future trial competency. Currently remanded back to the Cuyahoga County Jail, Hardy waits for a bed to become available at the treatment facility. In a parallel and separate case mentioned by FOX 8, another suspect, Bionca Ellis, accused of fatally stabbing a three-year-old child, was also found incompetent to stand trial and has been ordered to treatment.
