Tautphaus Park murder: Mitchell’s mental health evaluation

The man accused of killing Deraek Patrick Larson could be ordered to have a mental health evaluation.

Brian J. Mitchell was accused of murdering Larson.

According to court records, the motion for a psychological evaluation was made earlier this week, the order has not beenexecuted.

In February, Mitchell was on probation after being convicted of resisting or obstructing a police officer, he was given order for a mental health evaluation for that case.

Larson was found dead around 10 a.m. on Sunday, August 16th, by a passerby at the playground area in Tautphaus Park. Police were able to identify Larson later that after noon when they were able to match a fingerprint to the body.Audio recordings from a probable cause hearing suggest the murder at the playground may have happened because of a sexual encounter.

When it comes to mental health evaluations, there’s not always a clear answer of whether the mental illness could have prevented the violence.

However, there are signs that counselors look for especially in an instance where someone’s behavior may be reoccurring before a crime.

“Definitely patterns, whatever patterns that might be going on for that person- those can be indicators of something: mood cycling, thought disorder patterns things that would indicate something that would be something beyond situational and beyond something that might just be a basic change in behavior,” said Quinn Thibideau, a licensed clinical professional counselor with Pearl Health Clinic.

Mitchell has a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 2nd.