Woman accused in killings of Mount Dora couple found incompetent to stand trial
A judge has declared a woman accused of killing an elderly Mount Dora couple in 2022 incompetent to stand trial.
Court-appointed psychiatrists and a jailhouse mental health counselor who evaluated her said she was extremely mentally ill, according to court filings. Vickie Williams, 50, was facing the death penalty in the slayings of Sharon Getman, 80, and Darryl Getman, 83.
Lake County Circuit Judge James Baxley on Tuesday agreed with months of mental health evaluations concluding she requires treatment before she can face trial for first-degree murder.
Three of the four people appointed to evaluate Williams concluded she likely has schizophrenia and is often not aware of her surroundings, according to the filings.
They reported her having poor hygiene and during one evaluation she was reportedly in a cell that had urine “covering the floor.” She would also deny she was mentally ill despite displaying clear signs.
Additionally, a competency hearing May 15 was recessed after Williams urinated on herself, which “may have occurred more than once,” Baxley’s 44-page ruling said. She was then ordered committed to a psychiatric facility and will be reevaluated following treatment to decide if she can stand trial.
Tuesday’s ruling comes 17 months after the Getmans were found dead in a pool of blood in the entryway of their retirement community home on New Year’s Eve 2022, a gruesome scene as Mount Dora police and Lake County detectives determined they’d suffered stab wounds.
Williams was arrested days later in Georgia after she was stopped while driving the Getmans’ car that was reported stolen. She’s been in the Lake County Jail ever since.
The Florida Department of Children and Families was tasked with committing Williams to treatment. A plea negotiation conference between prosecutors and her public defender was scheduled for June 4 but was canceled after Baxley’s ruling.
