Criminal proceedings against Anila Baby, the South Bay woman accused of killing two friends within roughly 90 minutes on August 28, have been suspended while court-appointed doctors evaluate whether she is mentally competent to stand trial. The order came Friday from Department 24, the Santa Clara County court's mental health division, after her defense attorney said he had doubts about her ability to understand the proceedings against her.
Attorney Shawn M. George appeared before Judge Meghan Piano and formally declared doubt about his client's competency under California Penal Code Section 1368, according to indica News. George said his concerns stemmed from in-person conversations with Baby, while the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office did not oppose the declaration. Under the statute, proceedings are suspended when an order for a competency hearing has been issued, and mental health experts must determine whether a defendant has the present capacity to comprehend the case and assist her own defense, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. That competency standard is distinct from a legal insanity defense tied to a defendant's state of mind at the time of a crime.
Judge Piano appointed two doctors to evaluate Baby's mental state, and their findings are due when the case returns to court on December 18. Baby faces two counts of first-degree murder and could face 50 years to life in prison if convicted, per the same report from indica News.
A Morning and Midday, Two Crime Scenes
Investigators allege Baby killed Ann Mary Mathew with a knife inside Mathew's Linda Vista Street home in San Jose, then later struck 35-year-old Anjana Hari with her Toyota Highlander SUV in a Milpitas apartment complex parking lot. San Jose Police officers responding to a 1:53 p.m. call on August 28 found Mathew unconscious and unresponsive; medical personnel later pronounced her dead at the scene. The killing involved strangulation, stabbing, and head trauma and marked the city's 17th homicide of the year, according to the San Jose Police Department. Witnesses at the Mill Creek Apartments in Milpitas reported seeing Hari approach Baby's blue SUV and smile before the vehicle suddenly accelerated, struck her, collided with three parked cars, and fled the scene around noon that day, as reported by CBS News.
Milpitas Police located Baby inside her vehicle outside a nearby Walgreens pharmacy shortly after the hit-and-run; officers documented that she was incoherent, injured, unable to answer questions, and covered in blood on her arms and legs, according to the Los Angeles Times. Police also reported finding blood stains on Baby's hands and clothing, and investigators found Mathew's missing cellphone inside Baby's vehicle, per indica News. She was wearing sandals similar to a pair seen in surveillance footage outside Mathew's home at the time of her arrest, according to affidavits cited in that report.
Forensic Evidence and a Deleted Video
San Jose Police homicide detectives reported that doorbell surveillance video clips recorded on the morning of August 28 had been deleted from Mathew's home security system during the timeframe of the killing, alongside physical evidence indicating an effort to clean up the crime scene, the Los Angeles Times reported. Investigators submitted Baby's clothing to the Santa Clara County crime lab for DNA testing, which identified a stain on the exterior of the right knee of her pants; an infrared examination detected blood at that stain, per indica News. According to an affidavit cited in that report, the DNA profile from the stain was found to be approximately 590 septillion times more likely to have originated from Mathew and one unknown individual than from two unknown individuals.
Following her initial arrest for the Milpitas hit-and-run, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office formally filed a second first-degree murder charge against Baby on September 8 for Mathew's killing, according to the San Jose Police Department. Investigators are still investigating a motive for the alleged killings, per indica News.
Friends From Kerala Torn Apart
Baby, Mathew, and Hari were friends from Kerala, India, who had lived near one another in San Jose before recent moves. Mathew had moved into her Linda Vista Street home only a few months before her death, while Hari lived in the same Mill Creek Apartments complex as Baby, per indica News. All three women maintained close ties within the Bay Area's Malayali immigrant community and had gathered together to celebrate the Hindu festival of Onam just days before the violence, according to The News Minute.
The remains of both victims were repatriated to Kerala, arriving at Cochin International Airport on September 21 following diplomatic coordination between Indian authorities and NORKA-Roots, the same outlet reported. Baby had reportedly lost her job before the killings and was described as mentally unwell, according to SFist. Law enforcement has not confirmed an official motive, and that determination remains under investigation.
The case will not move forward until the two court-appointed doctors submit their evaluation reports ahead of the December 18 hearing. Whether Baby is ultimately found competent to stand trial, and whether her defense pursues further mental-health arguments once that determination is made, remains unresolved.
