Thursday, October 11th, 2018
Evaluation sought for suspect in stabbing
By Sydney Albert
WAPAKONETA - The defense team for a Dublin woman facing a murder charge in connection with the death of a St. Marys man is seeking to have her competency to stand trial evaluated.
Karen Fontenot, 54, was arrested last week in connection to the death of Joe Hunter, 56, who was found with a stab wound to his chest in his Williams Street apartment, according to a St. Marys Police Department news release.
According to the Auglaize County Municipal Court's website, Fontenot's attorney S. Michael Miller submitted a motion on Wednesday to determine Fontenot's competency to stand trial. A preliminary hearing that had been scheduled for Friday has been vacated and all further matters on the case were ordered stayed pending a hearing on the motion.
The hearing will be scheduled after the evaluation is completed, according to the online court docket.
Miller said defense and prosecuting attorneys had agreed upon setting a competency evaluation. The evaluation likely will not be completed before November, he added.
Hunter was found by EMS personnel with an apparent stab wound in his chest after the initial 911 call reported a man having seizures. He was transported to Joint Township District Memorial Hospital where he later died from his injury, according to the police statement.
Miller described Hunter and Fontenot as friends and longtime acquaintances.
A recording of the initial 911 call was provided to the newspaper. A person who identified himself as Hunter's neighbor and the owner of the duplex said in the recording that a woman who had been with Hunter had come to him and said Hunter was having a seizure. The caller can be heard asking about Hunter's condition, and an apparent woman's voice tells him Hunter is lying on the floor. The caller then tells the dispatcher that Hunter is bleeding in the chest area.
