Court refers murder suspect for psychiatric assessment

A Tema District Magistrate’s Court has ordered a psychiatric medical assessment for Daniella Nyarkoh, a 21-year-old accused of murdering her 70-year-old father, Alex Nyarkoh.

The court presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Mc'Arthur, remanded the suspect into police custody to reappear on June 15.

It ordered the Prosecutor, Inspector Emmanuel Mensah Kleku, to move a motion for the suspect to be referred to the Pantang Hospital for medical assessment, detention, and treatment.

Daniella was arraigned before the Court with a provisional charge of murder and her plea was not taken.

The prosecutor made the submission for the suspect to be remanded into a psychiatric hospital for medical assessment due to her current mental state.

The court subsequently directed the prosecutor to move a motion to enable the court to remand the suspect into a psychiatric hospital for the medical assessment.

Inspector Kleku told the court that on May 30, 2021, at about 0515 hours, the complainant, Prince Nyarkoh, 24, brother of Daniella, reported to the Tema Community Two Police that Daniella had stabbed their father to death.

He said Prince stayed with his siblings and parents on the ground floor of a storey building at BBC, Community Two.

Prosecution said Prince was accompanied by CPA Peter Amegashietse and the Crime Scene Management Team to the house and they found the lifeless body of the deceased lying in a pool of blood in a single room on the ground floor.

He said the team also detected that the deceased, who was diabetic, had his left leg amputated on medical grounds.

He said Daniella was arrested and two kitchen knives were retrieved at the crime scene.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Daniella was a senior high school graduate, currently unemployed, and for the past one week, had been behaving strangely.

Inspector Kleku said on May 29 she was sent to a prayer camp at Tema New Town where the family was advised to take her to a psychiatric hospital.

He said on May 30, around 0515 hours, the suspect, again started behaving abnormally and suddenly rushed to the storeroom, picked two knives and stabbed the father to death on his bed.

He said the body of the deceased had been conveyed to the Tema General Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.