No decision yet on competency of teen accused in Las Vegas hit-and-run death

Faced with conflicting evaluations, a judge delayed a determination as to whether one of the teens accused of killing a retired police chief in a hit-and-run is mentally competent.

Jesus Ayala, 19, and Jzamir Keys, 17, were indicted in October on charges of murder, attempted murder, failing to stop at the scene of a crash, battery, residential burglary, grand larceny of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Ayala is accused of using a stolen vehicle to strike Andreas Probst, 66, as he rode his bicycle near Centennial Parkway, on Aug. 14, 2023. Keys filmed a video of the two teens laughing and planning to hit Probst, who was a retired police chief from Bell, California, police have said.

Ayala’s attorney, Chief Deputy Public Defender David Westbrook, said in August that his client would undergo a court-ordered competency evaluation.

“I’m inclined to find him competent,” said District Judge Christy Craig Wednesday, explaining that she had two findings he was competent and one that he was incompetent.

But Westbrook said his client has “pretty severe brain damage from several sources,” but he declined to elaborate.

He suggested providing the report of the neuropsychologist hired by the public defender’s office to the other doctors to see if it altered their conclusions.

The report the public defender’s doctor did is more detailed than a regular psychological evaluation for determining competence, Westbrook said.

“I don’t think that they were aware of his brain damage,” he said. “It’s not apparent. He masks (it) very well.”

Craig said she would order the other two doctors to consider the report of the public defender’s neuropsychologist to see if it changes their opinion.

Ayala is due back in court on October 9.