Insanity defence accepted in Texas campus stabbing attack

AUSTIN, Texas – A judge on Tuesday found a former University of Texas student not guilty by reason of insanity in a random stabbing attack last year that killed one student dead and wounded three others.

State District Judge Tamara Needles found 22-year-old Kendrex White not guilty by reason of insanity after prosecutors and defence attorneys agreed on the plea.

Doctors for both sides agreed that White suffers from schizoaffective disorder and could not discern right from wrong when he attacked the students in May 2017, killing Harrison Brown.

White’s lawyers had filed paperwork with the court that waived White’s right to a jury trial. White had been charged with murder in Brown’s death and three counts of aggravated assault relating to the injured students.

Brown’s mother, Lori Brown, told reporters after the verdict that she hopes White never leaves the maximum-security mental hospital where he’ll be confined.

“I have no sympathy or empathy for Harrison’s murderer and I hope and pray he will never have an opportunity to harm another person,” Brown said.

Needles on Tuesday gave victims, family members, doctors and law enforcement officials a chance to testify in court after her judgment.

Dr. Maureen Burrows said White hears voices, hallucinates and sometimes believes he is Jesus Christ.