Competency of Suspect Questioned In Milpitas/San Jose Murders

The South Bay woman who is accused of killing her two close friends in late August in separate incidents in Milpitas and San Jose may not be mentally competent to stand trial, her lawyer says.

The legal proceedings in the August 28 double-murder case have been paused as 32-year-old Anila Baby will now be evaluated by psychiatrists in Santa Clara County to determine if she is fit to participate in her own defense.

"Based on my in-person conversations with my client, I have doubts as to my client’s competency to stand trial,” said defense attorney Shawn George, per Bay Area News Group. "After my client is evaluated for competency, we will come back to court to address this issue based on the evaluators’ reports."

Baby is accused of brutally strangling and/or bludgeoning 39-year-old Ann Mary Mathew in her home in San Jose and, hours later, mowing down 35-year-old Anjana Hari with her car in the parking lot of the Milpitas apartment complex where they both lived. Investigators say that after running down Hari, Baby sped away and was found by police in a nearby Walgreens parking lot, covered in blood and seeming incoherent.

Family members said at the time that Baby had recently lost a job and was perhaps in a depressed state because of that, but it sounds like a more serious mental break may have occurred.

Baby and her two friends were all reportedly immigrants from Kerala, in southern India. All three women were married, with both victims being mothers, and Mathew's husband discovered her body after learning of Hari's death.

Police say they have surveillance evidence connecting Baby to both crime scenes, and there was evidence of attempts to clean up and cover up Mathew's murder — with her phone being removed from the scene and doorbell camera footage deleted during a particular window of time when the crime occurred.

Per Bay Area News Group, Baby will now undergo evaluation by multiple doctors under Santa Clara County Superior Court’s mental-health assessment protocols. The process, which includes multiple interviews and the submission of reports, is expected to take several months.

"Really, the biggest heartbreak of this case is these families were best friends and want answers as to why someone could do this to their friend. So, I hope we can provide answers as we investigate this case," said Deputy District Attorney Marisa McKeown, speaking to ABC 7.

As McKeown told Bay Area News Group following Thursday's hearing, "We await further evaluation by the court appointed doctors."

Previously: Milpitas Woman Charged In Murder of Second Friend