With the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry finding him able to understand the charges against him and capable of assisting in his own defense, 19-year-old Andrew Hakeem Jewell was deemed competent to stand trial for a kidnapping attempt in August.
Sanilac County District Court Judge Greg Ross made the decision during a 10:30 a.m. hearing this morning, November 20, about two months after ordering Jewell to undergo psychiatric testing to determine competency.
The 19-year-old is charged with attempted unlawful imprisonment, attempted kidnapping/child enticement and assault/battery, having been arrested in late August after trying to drag an 8-year-old girl into the bathroom of local Hope Thrift Store, where he worked at the time. He was living in the associated men’s shelter, Michigan’s House of Hope, which was founded in part and overseen by Sandusky Police Chief Brett Lester, when Jewell was confronted and arrested by a Sandusky Police Officer for his alleged actions.
On October 20, after a lot of public backlash and internal review of policies, the shelter announced that the admission process has been updated to include an electronic application and an improved background check, with further evaluations and assessments to take place after a resident is admitted to the shelter. The update was deemed necessary after the public learned that Jewell had pled no contest to an assault and battery case with similar circumstances in Saginaw last year, but had still been accepted to live at the shelter and work at the thrift store, despite the organization’s previous claims it did background check residents.
Now that Jewell has been deemed competent, proceedings can resume, with the defendant due back in court for his probable cause hearing next week Tuesday, November 28 at 10:00 a.m. and for his preliminary examination on December 5 at 1:30 p.m. Attorney Eric Scott plans to represent Jewell through the end of the proceedings.
