Prosecutors ask for criminal defendant to be committed

A man charged with attempted murder after a machete attack on a family member may finally receive inpatient mental health treatment, after a psychiatrist determined that he is not competent to stand trial, according to V.I. Superior Court records.

The defendant, Jano Gordon, was arrested on Aug. 21 after police responded to a report of an assault at a home on St. Croix. The victim explained that Gordon had been having mental health challenges, and had been asked to leave the home numerous times because of his aggressive behavior.

Gordon entered the home without the victim’s knowledge and approached him, “aiming a machete towards his neck,” according to the probable cause fact sheet filed by V.I. Police. The victim raised his hand to defend himself, and the machete completely severed his thumb and part of a finger. The victim retrieved the severed digit and called a friend for a ride to the hospital, but emergency room doctors were unable to reattach the thumb, according to police.