Lawyer questions competency of teen accused of double homicide

An attorney for teenager Jacob Ryan Evans, accused of killing his mother and sister in October 2012, Friday afternoon filed a motion requesting a hearing to determine whether Evans is mentally competent to stand trial. 

Attorney Larry Moore said in court filings that he, due to his personal observations and dealings with Evans, as well as a forensic psychologist who examined Evans, do not believe Evans is competent. 

According to state law, a defendant is incompetent to stand trial if the defendant does not have “sufficient present ability to consult with the person’s lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding; or a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against the person.”

Evans, charged with capital murder, allegedly repeatedly shot 48-year-old Jami Evans, a former Aledo ISD teacher, and her daughter, 15-year-old Mallory Evans, at their Annetta South residence before calling 911 and confessing to the double homicide. 

During a recording of the call, Evans can be heard apparently telling the dispatcher he had been planning to kill “pretty much anybody” for a while and described himself as “I’m pretty, I guess, evil.”

Asked by the dispatcher if there was a reason he was so angry with his mother and sister, Evans replied, “I don’t know. I wasn’t — it’s weird — I wasn’t even really angry with them. It just kind of happened. I had been kind of planning on killing for a while now.”

Evans reportedly said he felt like his family was suffocating him in a way. 

District Judge Graham Quisenberry did not appear to have ruled on the request for a competency hearing Thursday morning. 

Moore also filed a motion “to discover evidence relative to [the] diminished mental capacity” of Evans, including details known to witnesees of the state, specifically including jail personnel, and notifying the court that the defense intends to offer evidence on the issue of insanity. 

Evans’ attorneys also filed an appeal last year with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after a ruling by the Texas Second Court of Appeals that would allow prosecutors to move forward with the case. 

Evans has remained in the Parker County Jail since his arrest with bond set at $750,000.