Family members of Eduardo Amaya haven’t said much publicly since last week’s shooting, but they have told Action News that he has mental illness and that mental health will likely be an important element of his defense.
The seat reserved for Eduardo Amaya was empty on Tuesday when he was supposed to make his first court appearance.
“Mr. Amaya refuses to leave his cell,” Judge James Kelley said after discussing Amaya’s case. “Is that correct?”
That’s correct,” said Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy Ethan Bare.
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“Is it your opinion that if he were to be forcibly removed and brought to court, it could result in injury to him or correctional officers?” the judge asked.
“It is,” Deputy Bare said.
Amaya, 22, is accused of leaving her family with a permanently empty seat by murdering her father, Marco, as the family prepared to celebrate a quinceañera.
Prosecutors also accused him of trying to kill three other people, including his mother and a 27-year-old sister, who appeared in court Tuesday with their entire forearms wrapped in a bandage.
“It’s going to be a family tragedy,” legal analyst Tony Capozzi said. “It’s going to be difficult for the mother, the daughter and difficult for the defendant in this particular case. Why did he do what he did? I’m curious to see if he can explain it.”
Capozzi says Amaya’s refusal to go to court is not necessarily related to the mental health issues her family has mentioned to Action News.
But he says that mental illness is often linked to criminal activity and that the next step in the process may be for a psychiatrist to determine if Amaya is mentally competent to help him with his own defense.
Once deemed competent, the context of the incident will take center stage.
Capozzi says prosecutors may need to provide a motive, even if it’s just a simple argument, if Amaya pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.
“Did he know right from wrong the day he did it?” Capozzi said. “Did he have some kind of hallucination? Was he under some kind of false belief?”
The judge set Amaya’s bail at $5.9 million.
He is due in court next week to enter a guilty plea.
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