Related
OAKLAND — The man who stands accused of fatally stabbing 18-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur BART station last July has been ordered to have another psychiatric examination.
As John Cowell sat cuffed in red, Alameda County Jail-issued clothing, Judge Morris Jacobs said on Wednesday he would review and then release his the psychiatric records.
Additionally, Jacobs granted a request to have Cowell undergo a mental exam by a doctor chosen by the district attorney's office. Cowell will be granted immunity for the May 30 test at the Santa Rita jail.
'It's good to see things that are moving forward with this process," Wilson's father Ansar El Muhammad said.
Police have said that Cowell randomly attacked Wilson and her sister, who was hospitalized.
When Cowell was ordered to cooperate with the doctor, he sat up strait and asked the judge through his attorney, "Does this mean I'm going to Napa?"
That was presumably a reference to Napa State Psychiatric Hospital.
Wilson's sister Tomisha Wilson believes such a response shows that Cowell is competent to stand trial.
"He knows what he's doing," she said.
Cowell's relatives have said he did not obtain treatment for mental illness before the attack.
Prior to any criminal trial, a separate mental health competency hearing will be held.