Delay in psychiatric assessment report for accused in April slaying

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This article was published 05/10/2023 (1066 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A suspect arrested for the slaying of a man whose body was discovered on fire in a Point Douglas warehouse parking lot has been ordered to undergo an assessment to determine whether he should be found not criminally responsible.

Tyrus Mann, 23, was charged with second-degree murder, after Winnipeg emergency crews were sent to a gravel parking lot near MacDonald Avenue and Gomez Street around 1 a.m. April 27, and found a body on fire.

Court records show a forensic report to determine whether Mann should be found not criminally responsible for the killing was ordered at his lawyer’s request June 15. Court heard Thursday the report has not been completed, with a new due date set for Nov. 2.

Police have not released the name of the victim. As previously reported in the Free Press, police in May identified a man they believed to be the victim, who later turned out to be alive.

A witness at the time said the victim’s body was so charred it was unrecognizable as human remains.

Police arrested Mann five days later, in connection to the stabbing of a 31-year-old man April 27 near Sargent Avenue and Furby Street. He is also alleged to have stabbed a 51-year-old man on Henry Street on April 26.

Mann was in custody when police charged him with second-degree murder May 3. He remains in custody.

Long wait times for psychiatric assessments to determine criminal responsibility have been a continuing drag on the Manitoba court system, with a shortage of psychiatrists and psychiatric beds being blamed for the delays.

Under the Criminal Code, court-ordered criminal responsibility assessments are required to be completed within 30 days, plus a 30-day extension, if necessary. If the report isn’t done in that time period, a new application must be made to the court.

Critics say the longer it takes to complete an assessment, the less likely the court will have a clear picture of an accused’s true mental state at the time of an offence.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca