Target store stabber likely to be sent to mental health facility at first

Aug. 05--A judge said Tuesday that she will likely sentence a homeless man to a mental health facility before he is incarcerated after a jury found him guilty but mentally ill during a stabbing rampage in the East Liberty Target store in 2013.

"Clearly, he has mental health issues. They will not be addressed in a prison setting," public defender Andrew Capone said.

He and his client, Leon Raymond Walls, appeared before Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel to ask that Mr. Walls be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility for a year.

Judge McDaniel said she will likely send Mr. Walls, 44, to Torrance State Hospital in Derry, where he will receive treatment, before he is incarcerated. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 13.

UPMC psychiatrist Abhishek Jain testified that Mr. Walls said he hears voices and has delusional thoughts. Those symptoms of schizophrenia are "significantly more mild than," but consistent with, aliments Mr. Walls had during the attack at Target.

"If he were to be released to the community right now, he would be at a risk to be a danger to himself or others," Dr. Jain said.

Assistant district attorney Matthew Robinowitz asked the judge to consider a prison sentence for Mr. Walls.

Pittsburgh police said Mr. Walls stabbed a man who was standing with friends on Highland Avenue on March 25, 2013, then ran inside the Target on Penn Avenue, where he stabbed several people, including Allison Meadows, then 16.

In June, a jury found Mr. Walls guilty but mentally ill of nine crimes, not guilty by reason of insanity on two counts and not guilty of seven more.

Crimes for which he was found guilty but mentally ill -- including attempted homicide and aggravated assault -- carry a mandatory minimum of at least 10 to 20 years incarceration, Mr. Robinowitz said.

Ms. Meadows' father, Glen Meadows, said he does not have a problem with Mr. Walls being sent to the hospital before prison. His family filed a lawsuit against Target in September 2013, claiming the store was not safe.

Target, whose counsel could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday, has since sued three men who tried to intervene when Mr. Walls grabbed Ms. Meadows in Target, saying that they brought an outside altercation into the store, court records show.

Mr. Walls had stabbed one of those men before he ran in to Target. The three followed him there and aided in the teen's rescue, according to trial testimony. Mr. Meadows said he and his family are grateful to those men, calling them heroes.

Lexi Belculfine: lbelculfine@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878. Twitter: @LexiBelc.

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