WASHINGTON COUNTY, INDIANA, Ind. — Dejaune Anderson’s murder trial remains in limbo months after she was deemed incompetent to stand trial and committed to a state psychiatric facility.
Anderson is one of two women charged in the death of her 5-year-old son Cairo Jordan.
Back in August, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Larry Medlock ordered Anderson to undergo psychiatric treatment after two doctors found her unable to stand trial.
For months prior, she submitted dozens of handwritten motions filled with conspiracy theories in an effort to represent herself at trial, which was slated to begin in October.
Court records indicate Anderson was admitted to the Logansport State Hospital around late August.
On Monday, Bethany Schoenradt, the hospital's superintendent, sent a letter to Medlock saying Anderson remains unable to stand trial, citing a report from a doctor at the facility. Details of that report remain confidential.
“It is our opinion that Ms. Anderson has a substantial probability of attaining the ability to understand the proceedings and assist in the preparation of her defense within the foreseeable future,” Schoenradt added.
If Anderson is not deemed competent enough to stand trial within six months after she was admitted, the facility plans to petition the court for a regular civil commitment.
A Washington County court official told WHAS11 the petition would extend the legal proceedings until the Indiana Department of Mental Health “has her to a point to where she has been sufficiently remediated to participate in trial.”
Logansport, Indiana is about 80 miles north of Indianapolis and more than 180 miles north of Salem, Indiana.
Cairo's body was found inside a suitcase that had been dumped in a rural wooded area of Washington County in 2022.
Anderson was arrested in California following a years-long manhunt. She’s charged with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice.
Dawn Coleman, the other woman charged in Cairo’s death, pleaded guilty to charges in his death last November.
Coleman was sentenced to 25 years in prison and agreed to testify against Anderson when her case goes to trial.
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