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West Jordan • A judge on Tuesday found that a Utah man accused in the 2012 kidnapping, rape and killing of a 6-year-old West Jordan girl is not competent to stand trial and ordered him to the Utah State Hospital for treatment.
Terry Lee Black was first evaluated by mental health experts about 18 months ago. They concluded then that he was not competent to stand trial, but the issue languished while attorneys wrangled over other legal questions in the case.
In October, 3rd District Court Judge Douglas Hogan ordered Black to meet again with evaluators, agreeing with both prosecutors and defense lawyers, who said the case couldn't proceed if questions about competency remained.
Black met with evaluators in November.
On Tuesday, Hogan said that updated competency findings suggest Black's condition has "gotten substantially worse in some areas."
Black is unable to appreciate the nature or severity of the proceedings and he lacks the mental fitness to assist his attorneys with his defense, the judge said.
Hogan ordered Black into the custody of the Department of Human Services, which oversees the Utah State Hospital, to try and restore his competency for trial.
Until Black is found competent, the case will remain on hold.
The findings have devastated the family of Sierra Newbold, who prosecutors say was kidnapped, raped and killed by Black on June. 26, 2012.
"My heart goes out to the family," Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Robert Stott said after the hearing. "For two and a half years, as far as they see it, no progress has been made and now they're going to find out that who knows when progress, as far as getting them to a trial, will be made."
The girl's family left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
Under the law, it could be as long as a year from the time Black begins treatment at the Utah State Hospital before another hearing is held in the case. It wasn't immediately clear when Black would be admitted to the hospital, where his attorneys have said there is a waiting list for available beds.
Stott said the experts who have evaluated Black have diagnosed him with multiple mental illnesses, including "borderline intellectual functioning, learning disorder, cognitive disorder and psychotic disorder."
"In our jurisdiction, in our criminal law, if a person is not competent, regardless of the crime they committed, we cannot proceed," Stott said.
Black, 44, is charged with aggravated murder, child kidnapping and rape of a child in connection with Sierra's death.
In court papers, prosecutors allege Black abducted Sierra from her West Jordan house — about a block from his own — and beat, raped and strangled her before throwing her into a nearby canal, where she drowned.
Black was arrested for an unrelated bank robbery three days later.
Investigators found soot and debris on his clothing and hands that was similar to materials in the field where Sierra's clothes were found. Lab results later showed that Black's DNA matched the DNA found on the girl's body.
Black has sent letters to The Salt Lake Tribune from jail in which he has maintained his innocence.