Defendant in beating death ordered by court to receive mental health treatment
After the court determined he was not competent to stand trial, the man suspected of humiliating and beating another man to death was committed by a Kern County Superior Court judge to a psychiatric hospital to receive mental health treatment for up to two years.
Tyrell Cooper, 42, pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of threatening with the intent to terrorize, one count of preventing or dissuading a witness to testify by force and one count of elder abuse.
He also has misdemeanor charges for drunk and disorderly conduct and open display of a fake gun in a public place. Cooper pleaded not guilty to all charges on March 13.
During his arraignment in March, he was removed from the courtroom by Kern County Sheriff’s Office deputies for interrupting the judge several times in an attempt to represent himself and cut a deal with the judge.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Judge Joseph Soldani ordered Cooper to be committed to the Department of Mental Health to be placed in a mental hospital, according to Kristin Davis, the public information officer at Kern County Superior Court.
Cooper will receive medical mental health treatment with the goal of restoring competency in order to continue the court proceedings, Davis said.
A judge on April 14 ordered that Cooper be given medication in an attempt to restore competency after Cooper was deemed not mentally competent to stand trial.
Davis said the court found Tuesday that Cooper was unable to make decisions about antipsychotic medication and required him to receive treatment with antipsychotic medication to prevent physical or mental harm.
Cooper is charged in the killing of Harry Eugene Clark Jr., 66, on March 3 in a home on the 200 block of Clyde Street, according to the Kern County coroner’s office. According to the probable cause statement submitted by the Bakersfield Police Department to the courts, Cooper punched, bit, strangled and humiliated Clark while pointing a prop gun at other residents of the home.
Cooper told officers that he heard Clark making disparaging remarks about Cooper. He also told officers that he “sometimes hears voices from people he does not know or who are not present,” according to the statement.
As of Tuesday, Cooper remained in KCSO custody while he awaits transfer to the California Department of State Hospitals.
