TUSCALOOSA, AL — Attorneys for the man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of DCH nurse Ada Doss have formally asked a judge to order a mental evaluation to determine both his competency to stand trial and his mental state at the time of the deadly incident.
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A motion filed Wednesday by defense attorney Hunter Brown alleges that Matthew James Taylor, 41, has a lengthy history of severe mental illness and may have been experiencing a mental health crisis when he killed Doss in the parking lot of DCH Regional Medical Center on May 12.
Investigators have described the killing as a random act of violence after Taylor had been dropped off at the hospital.
ALSO READ: Court Docs Detail Behavior, Mental State Of Man Who Killed DCH Nurse
According to the filing, Taylor was diagnosed with bipolar disorder with schizoaffective disorder at age 18. He has reportedly been admitted to North Harbor Crisis Stabilization Unit in Northport more than 30 times, along with multiple admissions to other inpatient mental health facilities.
The motion also claims Taylor has been unable to adequately communicate with his attorneys since his arrest and notes that the psychiatrist providing services at the Tuscaloosa County Jail has sought court authorization to forcibly medicate him.
As Patch previously reported, the request comes less than a week after Circuit Judge Allen W. May Jr. ordered jail officials to involuntarily administer psychiatric medication to Taylor after court records detailed increasingly dangerous and erratic behavior while he was being held at the Tuscaloosa County Jail.
Those records included allegations that Taylor refused medication and food, consumed and smeared feces in his cell and required physical intervention from jail staff involving the use of Tasers and OC spray.
In the newly filed motion, Brown argues that "the totality of the circumstances" surrounding Taylor's arrest and the days leading up to it indicate he was suffering from "an extreme mental health emergency" at the time of his arrest.
The defense is asking the court to order the Alabama Department of Mental Health to conduct evaluations regarding Taylor's competency to stand trial and his mental state when the crime allegedly occurred.
Taylor remains in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond.
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