The Columbia man who pleaded not criminally responsible to two homicide charges this past year will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, ruled Howard Circuit Judge Diane Leasure on Wednesday.
Attorney Mark Van Bavel filed the plea for Charles David Richardson, 24, who is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting to death store clerk Alevtina Zhilina, 40, of Columbia, during an attempted armed robbery April 26, 2007, at the 7-Eleven convenience store on Columbia Road.
“If the screener finds no basis for [Richardson being criminally responsible,] I then have the option of having him evaluated privately,” he said.
Van Bavel declined comment on whether Richardson has a history of mental illness.
If Richardson is found not criminally responsible, he could be incarcerated at the maximum-security Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, Van Bavel said.
Richardson, wearing a gray jumpsuit, stood smiling as the hearing concluded and then placed his hands behind his back to be cuffed.
Richardson also was charged in a second murder less than a month later when police found the body of Trae Davon Allen, 19, of Columbia, inside Richardson?s town house on Brook Way in Columbia, which is across the street from the 7-Eleven.
Police linked Richardson to both slayings using information from witnesses who had been at a gathering at Richardson?s town house where Allen?s body was later found.
A resident told police they overheard Richardson say, “If the [expletive] would have just given me money, I wouldn?t have had to pop her …,” according to charging documents.
Richardson was arrested in May 2007 during a traffic stop on Route 40 in Ellicott City.
According to court records, Richardson has an extensive criminal record.
Charges of armed robbery and first-degree assault at the same 7-Eleven where Zhilina was shot and killed were dropped against him in 2006 because of insufficient evidence.
His trial is scheduled for May 27 in Howard Circuit Court.
