Territory still struggling to house, treat mentally ill criminal defendants

Schneider Hospital is asking the V.I. Supreme Court to block an order that would force staff to admit a “violent inmate” as a patient, arguing that staff and other patients could be placed at risk.

The inmate, Khalid Richardson, was arrested in July after V.I. Police said he stabbed a relative, causing severe, life-threatening injuries that required emergency surgery. Following his arrest, Richardson was charged with first-degree attempted murder, and he remained jailed after a psychological evaluation determined that he was not competent to stand trial. Superior Court Judge Ernest Morris Jr. ordered the Health Department to transfer Richardson to an appropriate behavioral health facility by Sept. 30.

The territory does not have a secure forensic psychiatric facility where individuals like Richardson can be held, so those in need of involuntary treatment are shipped to private facilities off-island, such as Sylmar Health and Rehabilitation Center in California, and Wellpath, formerly known as Correct Care, in South Carolina.