(AP) A federal judge on Thursday sought to evaluate the mental health of a woman charged with kidnapping, firearms and terrorism-related counts — nearly four years after authorities arrested her and four other adults from an extended family at a squalid New Mexico compound and recovered the remains of a 3-year-old boy.
Courtroom deliberations about Haitian national Jany Leveille’s mental health took place in Albuquerque at a hearing closed from public view, on the request of her lawyers, to consider whether she understand[s] the criminal charges against her, which she has denied. No updates were provided by the court.
An FBI agent previously testified in a preliminary hearing that Leveille’s two teenage sons told authorities they were trained on how to use firearms and defensive tactics by adult relatives at the compound near the tiny community of Amalia not far from the Colorado state line.
