OAKLAND — A 24-year-old postal worker accused of brutally murdering an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office explorer at an Oakland park last year has been deemed mentally incompetent by two court-appointed doctors.
Alameda County Judge Jon Rolefson on Wednesday received two doctors reports that say Oakland resident Laura Rodgers is currently mentally unfit for prosecution in the killing of 21-year-old Karla Ramirez-Segoviano.
The prosecution has until May 5 to decide whether to challenge the findings in front of a jury or allow Rodgers to start mental health treatment at a state hospital.
Ramirez-Segoviano’s body was found beaten, stabbed and burned near the entrance of the Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center in Oakland on Nov. 3. Authorities say that Rodgers, her friend of four years, lured her to the park and then attacked her.
Rodgers’s boyfriend Curtys Taylor, 23, is also charged with murder, accused of waiting at the park with the can of gasoline that was poured on the victim’s body. Neither Taylor or Rodgers have entered pleas in the case.
In January, a prosecutor told Rolefson that Rodgers gave a coherent confession that indicated that she was both sane and competent. Her attorney, Darryl Stallworth, said he has trouble communicating with Rodgers and that she has received multiple mental health diagnoses, including severe depression.
“Her condition as presently diagnosed is not stable enough to properly assist defense counsel,” Stallworth said.
If subjected to state hospitalization, Rodgers would return to Alameda County to face the charges once she is declared competent enough to understand the criminal proceedings against her and assist in her defense.
If she is not declared competent within three years, prosecutors would have to petition a court to keep her in a locked facility.
Ramirez-Segoviano volunteered for about four years with the sheriff’s explorer program for teens and young adults and was interested in a law enforcement career. Authorities said she formerly worked with Rodgers at a fast food restaurant. They have not released their theories on what motivated the killing.
